Ilene Woods captivated audiences with her voice long before she sang "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes." The New Hampshire native performed in her own local radio show at 11 and a network show at 14.

Two songwriter friends asked her to record a demo of some tunes they'd written for an upcoming Disney feature, and two days later, she wound up in Walt Disney's office.

Woods later became a spokeswoman for United Cerebal Palsy telethons.