Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#10515
of 909177 performers
Top 5%
Clarence Nash represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 91 years in, and Clarence is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Clarence Nash appears in 49 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Clarence. Once Upon a Studio is the clearest case: a film rated 7.7 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for comedy, fantasy, family. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Dan Abraham, Burny Mattinson, Wolfgang Reitherman and others, Clarence Nash helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Once Upon a Studio (2023) as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound) · Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) as Donald - Nephew Fred (voice) · The Aristocats (1970) as Cat Screeches (uncredited)
Career snapshot
Ranked #10515 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
49
1932–2023
Career length
91 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.7
Once Upon a Studio
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Once Upon a Studio
Most frequent director
Jack Hannah
7 films together
Longest collaboration
7×
With Jack Hannah
Most common genre
Animation
49 titles
Average runtime
0h 21m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
7.2
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2020s
7.7 average MV
The 2020s are where the work and the material meet. Once Upon a Studio — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2020s
7.7
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2020s
8.3
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1930s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Donald's Cousin Gus, Beach Picnic, The Ugly Duckling.
Most productive era
1930s
20 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1970s | 1980s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 7.11 film | — | — | — | 7.71 film |
| Thriller | 6.82 films | — | — | — | — | — |
| Comedy | 6.618 films | 6.512 films | 6.66 films | 7.31 film | — | 7.71 film |
| Crime | 6.51 film | — | — | — | — | — |
| Romance | 6.42 films | — | — | — | — | — |
| Horror | 6.82 films | 6.82 films | — | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Birds (voice) (uncredited).
Career peak
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance · Most recent film
7.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. The current state of the argument, as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
49 of 49 films
as Donald - Nephew Fred (voice)
Directed by Burny Mattinson
as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound)
Directed by Dan Abraham
as Donald Duck (voice)
Directed by Joshua Meador
as Donald Duck (voice) (uncredited)
Directed by Jack Hannah
as Donald Duck / Huey / Dewey / Louie (voice) (uncredited)
Directed by Jack King
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Donald - Nephew Fred (voice)
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
Performance score7.7
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Donald - Nephew Fred (voice) gives Clarence Nash a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound)
Once Upon a Studio (2023)
Performance score7.5
Once Upon a Studio asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Donald Duck (voice)
Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)
Performance score7.4
Donald in Mathmagic Land asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Donald Duck (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Donald Duck (voice) (uncredited)
Corn Chips (1951)
Performance score7.4
Corn Chips asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Donald Duck (voice) (uncredited) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Donald - Nephew Fred (voice)
Start here. Mickey's Christmas Carol is the clearest statement of what Clarence Nash does — accessible, 25 minutes, and rated 7.4 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Clarence at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Donald's Snow Fight (1942)
Keeps the animation register of Mickey's Christmas Carol but asks for a colder reading of it.
Corn Chips (1951)
Keeps the comedy register of Donald's Snow Fight but asks for a colder reading of it.
Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)
Keeps the comedy register of Corn Chips but asks for a colder reading of it.
Once Upon a Studio (2023)
Keeps the comedy register of Donald in Mathmagic Land but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Jack King
Director
7 films together
Notably Donald's Snow Fight
Jack Hannah
Director
7 films together
Notably Pluto's Christmas Tree
Jack Kinney
Director
6 films together
Notably The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Wilfred Jackson
Director
5 films together
Notably The Old Mill
Ben Sharpsteen
Director
5 films together
Notably Mickey's Trailer
Clyde Geronimi
Director
4 films together
Notably Alice in Wonderland
David Hand
Director
3 films together
Notably Bambi
Burt Gillett
Director
2 films together
Notably Lonesome Ghosts
Walt Disney
Director
1 film together
Notably The Golden Touch
Jack Cutting
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ugly Duckling
Alfred L. Werker
Director
1 film together
Notably The Reluctant Dragon
Riley Thomson
Director
1 film together
Notably Symphony Hour
Harve Foster
Director
1 film together
Notably Song of the South
Bill Roberts
Director
1 film together
Notably Mickey and the Beanstalk
Joshua Meador
Director
1 film together
Notably Donald in Mathmagic Land
Wolfgang Reitherman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Aristocats
Burny Mattinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Mickey's Christmas Carol
Dan Abraham
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Studio
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Jack Hannah
Director
7 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 7 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Pluto's Christmas TreeJack King
Director
7 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 7 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Donald's Snow FightJack Kinney
Director
6 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 6 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Legend of Sleepy HollowBen Sharpsteen
Director
5 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 5 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Mickey's TrailerWilfred Jackson
Director
5 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 5 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Old MillClyde Geronimi
Director
4 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Alice in WonderlandDavid Hand
Director
3 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
BambiBurt Gillett
Director
2 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Lonesome GhostsDan Abraham
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Once Upon a StudioBurny Mattinson
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mickey's Christmas CarolWolfgang Reitherman
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The AristocatsJoshua Meador
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Donald in Mathmagic LandJack Cutting
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ugly DucklingBill Roberts
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mickey and the BeanstalkHarve Foster
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Song of the SouthRiley Thomson
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Symphony HourAlfred L. Werker
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Reluctant DragonWalt Disney
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Golden TouchSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Aristocats
as Cat Screeches (uncredited)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Once Upon a Studio
as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Alice in Wonderland
as Dinah (voice) (uncredited)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Once Upon a Studio
as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Mickey's Christmas Carol
as Donald - Nephew Fred (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Clarence Nash has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
91 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Animation Legend
Awarded
49 catalogue titles in animation, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Once Upon a Studio
as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Old Mill
as Frogs (voice) (uncredited)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Alice in Wonderland
as Dinah (voice) (uncredited)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Alice in Wonderland
as Dinah (voice) (uncredited)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Once Upon a Studio
as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Saludos Amigos
as Donald Duck (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Once Upon a Studio
as Donald Duck (voice) (archive sound)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Saludos Amigos
as Donald Duck (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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Michael Caine
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Edward Norton
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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