+
Pop Culture

How Gilbert Gottfried's iconic 'Iago' voice helped a father connect with his autistic son

The lesser known story behind our favorite cartoon bird.

disney helped with autistic son

Gilbert Gottfried in 2016.

Gilbert Gottfried was a legendary stand-up comic, who somehow managed to pull off bizarre, even crude humor with a sense of lighthearted charm. He also appeared in countless films and TV shows as an actor, including “Saturday Night Live,” “Beverly Hills Cop II” and more recently “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

But for many ’90s kids (myself included) he was quite simply the one, the only … Iago.



Gottfried brought a wisecracking, chaotic Disney parrot to life in a way that no one else could. In fact, fellow “Aladdin” actor Jonathan Freeman credited Gottfried for bringing out his best rendition of the movie’s sinister villain, Jafar.

“My performance was much improved by having had Gilbert as the parrot because I didn’t have to be psychotic. I could let him be psychotic,” Freeman said in an interview for Theater Mania.

And while nearly everyone on the planet might know about Gottfried’s Iago, they might not know how his beloved character helped one father connect once again with his autistic son.


In 2014, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind wrote an article for The New York Times sharing how his son Owen’s regressive autism diagnosis came as a frustrating, confusing and painful shock.

Unlike children born with it, those with regressive autism seem to be developing typically then will suddenly experience a rapid loss in communication and social skills. This meant his once “chatty, energetic” boy stopped speaking. For four years.

In the midst of the family’s upheaval, one saving grace provided comfort and stability: Disney.

Movies such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and even old classics like “Dumbo” and "Bambi” still held Owen’s interest. And eventually, Suskind discovered that they could also be the key to communication.

On his brother Walt’s birthday, Owen used a Disney reference to speak a complex sentence: “Walter doesn’t want to grow up, like Mowgli or Peter Pan.”

Eager to find a way to keep the momentum going, Suskind followed Owen into his room.

As he tiptoed up the stairs, Suskind saw a puppet of Iago, one of Owen’s “favorite characters.”

Owen had been doing lots of Iago echolalia, repeating certain character lines. Echolalia is commonly described as both a symptom of autism and as a point of entry for a parent.

Suskind joked that it was “easy to identify because the character is voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, who talks like a busted Cuisinart.”

Suskind successfully grabbed the Iago puppet, then froze, not knowing what to say. Suddenly, an idea came. “What would Iago say?”

Doing his best Gilbert Gottfried, Suskind started to ask Owen simple questions.

“How ya doin'?”

“How does it feel to be you?”

He must have done a convincing Gottfried impression, because it worked. Owen and “Iago” had a long, heartfelt conversation. Owen even channeled his inner Jafar. They were playing together. A miracle.

“I hear a laugh, a joyful little laugh that I have not heard in many years,” the father wrote.

That breakthrough would eventually lead to Suskind writing a book about the life-changing discovery. He even teamed up with Owen (now all grown up) to adapt the book into a documentary called “Life Animated.

Owen now seems to be a happy, healthy adult (a picture of him next to Gottfried below) with a fulfilling life—and yes, still a love of Disney, thanks in part to a wisecracking, chaotic parrot.

Gottfried’s voice was indeed iconic. But, as with many great artists, it also helped others find their voice. His talent made a lasting positive impact, and he will be missed.

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

Keep ReadingShow less
The Tonight Show/ Youtube

Jennifer Aniston appearing on "The Tonight show"

Let’s face it, platonic relationships between men and women rarely get the same amount of attention as romantic ones, to the point where we debate whether or not they can actually exist in the first place.

That’s what makes a clip of Jennifer Aniston gushing about her decades-long friendship with Adam Sandler so cool to watch. There’s no Harry-Met-Sally-ing here, just one pal talking about another pal.

Aniston sat down with Jimmy Fallon to promote the film “Murder Mystery 2,” starring both Aniston and Sandler, but the conversation quickly veered into several anecdotes about “The Sand Man,” including how the two first met at a deli in their 20s.

As with any healthy friendship, there’s plenty of ragging on each other.

Keep ReadingShow less

Ring doorbell video captures what it's like to be the default parent.

Kids, man. I'm not sure of the scientific way audacity is distributed, but kids have a lot of it and somehow make it cute. That audacity overload is especially interesting when you're the default parent—you know, the parent kids go to for literally everything as if there's not another fully capable adult in the house. Chances are if your children haven't sought you out while you were taking a shower so you could open up a pack of fruit snacks, then you're not the default parental unit.

One parent captured exactly what it's like to be the default parent and shared it to TikTok, where the video has over 4 million views. Toniann Marchese went on a quick grocery run and *gasp* did not inform her children. Don't you fret, they're modern kids who know how to use modern means to get much-needed answers when mom is nowhere to be found. They went outside and rang the doorbell.

Back when we were children, this would've done nothing but make the dogs bark, but for Marchese's kids, who are 3 and 6 years old, it's as good as a phone call.

Keep ReadingShow less

A size 21 Nike shoe made for Tacko Fall.

A local reporter at Hometown Life shared a unique and heartfelt story on March 16 about a mother struggling to find shoes that fit her 14-year-old son. The story resonated with parents everywhere; now, her son is getting the help he desperately needs. It's a wonderful example of people helping a family that thought they had nowhere to turn.

When Eric Kilburn Jr. was born, his mother, Rebecca’s OBGYN, told her that he had the “biggest feet I’ve ever seen in my life. Do not go out and buy baby shoes because they’re not gonna fit,’” Rebecca told Today.com. Fourteen years later, it’s almost impossible to find shoes that fit the 6’10” freshman—he needs a size 23.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

Former teacher shares the funny 'secret code' she used when talking to parents

“Your son is going to make a great lawyer" is code for: "Your kid won’t stop arguing with me."

Miss Smith shares the "secret code" teachers use in emails to parents.

There are many things that teachers think but cannot say aloud. Teachers have to have a certain sense of decorum and often have strict rules about the things they can or can’t say about children, especially to their parents.

Plus, it’s a teacher’s job to educate, not judge. So, they find ways to kindly say what’s on their minds without having to resort to name-calling or talking disparagingly of a student.

Keep ReadingShow less

It's incredible what a double-sided magnet can do.


A new trend in treasure hunting called magnet fishing has blown up over the past two years, evidenced by an explosion of YouTube channels covering the hobby. Magnet fishing is a pretty simple activity. Hobbyists attach high-powered magnets to strong ropes, drop them into waterways and see what they attract.

The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


Keep ReadingShow less