Background
Dallas D. Johann was born June 15, 1944, in Wisconsin. The family, including his older brother John Lee Johann, relocated to Southern California, where both brothers apparently tried out for the Mickey Mouse Club auditions.
Dallas Johann (June 15, 1944)
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The Vanishing MouseketeerDallas is the closest thing the Mickey Mouse Club has to an urban legend. He apparently was the first Mouseketeer hired, and despite Paul Petersen's later claim, the first fired. His tenure spanned no more than two weeks, so he was probably never really under contract.
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Performance
There wasn't one. As each Mouseketeer was hired, their parents were warned that the initial tryout period of two-three weeks would determine the child's suitability for television work. After that tryout period, a formal contract with six-month options would be signed by the studio and the performer. Ten-year old Dallas reportedly cried whenever the cameras turned his way, and so the producers dismissed him.1 Dallas went on to sing and dance in Broadway musicals, an infinitely more terrifying prospect for a young actor. Perhaps his tears were aesthetic, from finding himself performing in an inferior medium.
Here comes the mysterious part of this story. Dallas is replaced by his twelve-year old brother John (who uses his middle name Lee, because there's already a Mouseketeer named Johnny). Why? In the three years the show was made, this is the only time someone else immediately replaces a dismissed performer. And his older brother, no less! Now, no official Disney book mentions this switcheroo, or even the very existence of Dallas Johann. The story originates with Jerry Bowles 1976 book, Forever Hold Your Banner High!. Jerry's source was John Lee Johann, who, like Jerry and Lonnie Burr, was living in New York at the time. Jerry also had another story from John, in which he admitted starting a rumor on the show that Annette Funicello kissed Bobby Burgess behind the school trailer. The book includes a photo of Dallas, credited to him.
Lonnie Burr told Jeff Rovin in 1975 that a Mouseketeer was fired for crying on-camera, only he said it was Paul Petersen. Paul, in his 1977 book about the club, had a few nasty things to say about Lonnie, but apparently didn't know about Dallas, hence his claim to be the first ex-Mouseketeer. The one certain thing in all of this is that there really is a Dallas Johann; he's not some hoax. Whether or not he actually auditioned for the club, was hired, and then fired, well, that's another matter.2
Aftermath
After leaving the show, Dallas and his brother John Lee took dance lessons from Burch Mann. When she started her professional company, Ballet America (later American Folk Ballet) around 1961 in Pasadena, they joined up and toured with her around the country. In the late sixties and early seventies Dallas appeared on Broadway as a performer in several stage musicals, including Maggie Flynn, The Rothchilds, and The Happy Time. Later, he became a director in dinner-theater productions in New York and California. Dallas has been married since 1969 to the same lady; they have several grown children.
Notes1. Dallas was reportedly offered $250 a week by mistake; all other Mouseketeers were receiving only $185 per week. This was probably why the producers used performance issues as a reason to get rid of Dallas before he signed a contract.
2. In 1998 Disney archivist Dave Smith included Dallas in his Disney A to Z encyclopedia, saying he was hired and quickly fired, and replaced by his brother. In 2004, the Disney Treasures DVD for the Mickey Mouse Club's first week included a short, very early clip of the original Mouseketeers from which the above photo was taken.
