Sharon Baird, better known as Mousketeer "Sharon" on The Mickey Mouse Club, was born on August 16, 1943, in Seattle, Washington. Her brother, Jimmy Baird, also pursued an acting career, albeit for a shorter duration. Sharon began taking ballet lessons as a child and demonstrated a natural aptitude for dancing, later incorporating tap, jazz, and other forms of dance into her repertoire.
In 1950, Sharon won the "Little Miss Washington" beauty contest, earning a trip to Los Angeles to compete in the national pageant, where she placed second. Her parents decided to relocate to Los Angeles, and it was there that Sharon received dance instruction from renowned tap dancer Louis Da Pron. Da Pron's pupil showed immense promise, leading him to recommend her for a role in a upcoming production on The Colgate Comedy Hour.
Although Sharon did not secure the part, show host Eddie Cantor placed her under personal contract, featuring her in the show whenever he hosted it. She eventually landed a role in the film Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) but her career slowed significantly following Cantor's heart attack in 1952.
The 11-year-old Sharon was attending a Capitol Records recording session when she was spotted by Jimmie Dodd, a co-host of the upcoming Disney show The Mickey Mouse Club. Dodd encouraged her to audition, and she was cast as a Mousketeer. With more singing and dancing experience than her fellow cast members, Sharon was featured in nearly every show during the first year.
In addition to her work on the show, Sharon performed in live shows at Disneyland and embarked on a national tour with some of her fellow cast members. However, by the show's third year, Sharon's role decreased, and she found herself relegated to the background. When the show concluded in 1958, Sharon continued to perform at Disneyland and with former cast members, including an Australian tour in 1959.
Sharon later performed with Donald O'Connor in a Las Vegas engagement but struggled to find consistent work as the variety show genre declined. She made ends meet by teaching dancing and pursuing math and secretarial courses at Los Angeles Valley College from 1960 to 1962. Sharon married singer Dalton Lee Thomas in 1963, but they separated in 1966 and divorced in 1972.
In 1969, Sharon received a call from producer Sid Krofft, offering her a role in his new show H.R. Pufnstuf. She accepted and went on to work with Krofft and his brother Marty Krofft on all their subsequent series. Sharon appeared at the 20th Anniversary Celebration for The Mickey Mouse Club at Disneyland in 1975 and later appeared as "Frodo" in the animated/live-action film The Lord of the Rings (1978) and on the show's 20th Anniversary Show in 1980.
In 1986, Sharon played a teenage boy with a physical deformity and unusual behavior in the film Ratboy (1986),released under the pseudonym "S.L. Baird." Unfortunately, the film was a commercial and critical failure, and Sharon returned to performing in children's shows, appearing in the direct-to-video production The Mother Goose Video Treasury (1987).
Since then, Sharon has participated in several Mousketeer reunions and the Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Event in 2005. She remains close friends with former Mousketeer Annette Funicello.
