The name Sterling Holloway brings up a lot of memories, none more cherished than his role as the many voices of Disney characters that the world came to know and love throughout his long and storied career in Hollywood.

Yet he was known for many roles before he ever stepped in front of the microphone to become “Winnie the Pooh” or Kaa the Python in “The Jungle Book.”

In fact, Holloway’s career was well in place by the time Disney began to use his voice talents for their animated features.

His role on as star and supporting actor in a number of westerns is what in the heyday of the silver screen saw Holloway become successful and famous.

Long before Winnie the Pooh in the 1960s was created, Holloway was involved in such notable Westerns like “The Great K&A Train Robbery” (1926), “The Big Show” (1936), “The Big Broadcast of 1938” (1938), “The Frontier Trail” (1938), “The Lone Ranger” (1938), “The Return of Wild Bill” (1940), “The Lone Rider in Frontier Fury” (1941), “The Lone Rider in Cheyenne” (1941), “Wild Horse Rustlers” (1943), and “The Return of the Durango Kid” (1945). As good as a third of the movies he starred in various roles were westerns produced between the mid 1920s, and the late 1940s.

His role on television series included “The F Troop” (a Western comedy from 1966) and “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” (1956-58) give him time on the small screen as well.

Holloway’s career was about as diverse and imaginative that any actor in contemporary Hollywood would envy, but his early life mirrored many of those who come to California seeking fame and fortune.

Sterling Holloway grew up here in Cedartown, named for his father who was born in the midst of the Civil War. They owned a grocery store, and at one point his father served as mayor. After graduation from the Georgia Military Academy, he left home for New York City and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his long and storied career began.

Holloway’s life is still remembered here in Polk County. Holloway Park in front of Polk County Courthouse No. 2 was renamed in his honor a few years ago, and historic signage is up at the corner of Sterling Holloway Place and College Street, near where his boyhood home once stood.

His career in the early 19-teens grew as he took part in one-nighters across the American West, ultimately got back to New York where he got walk-on parts for stage performances, and then moved to Hollywood after some success in 1926, where his career took off in motion pictures and radio.

He ultimately appeared in more than 100 films and television shows during his career, hundreds of radio hours, and narrated dozens of records for Disney stories.

Holloway passed at the age of 87 in 1992.

Along with physical tributes locally, the Holloway Hunny Pot Festival started in recent years also bears his name.

There is some debate on whether he was born (as the internet claims) on January 4 or January 14. Longtime friends and keeper of Holloway collectables Donnie Jarrell has maintained that Holloway’s birthdate is January 14, 1905.