Disney family
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The Disney family is an American family that gained prominence when brothers Roy and Walt began creating films through the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, today known as mass media and entertainment conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. The Disney family's influence on American culture grew with successful feature films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and the opening of the Disneyland Amusement park in 1955. Other Disney family members have been involved in the management and administration of the Disney company, filmmaking, and philanthropy.
Background
The family name, originally d'Isigny ("from Isigny"), is of Norman French derivation, coming from the town of Isigny-sur-Mer.<ref>Disney's World, Leonard Mosley, Scarborough House Books, 1990, p. 22</ref><ref>The Origin of Names, Words and Everything In-Between, Patrick Foote, Turner Publishing, 2018</ref> The Disneys, among others who took names from the Normans, settled in England and gave their name to Norton Disney in Lincolnshire. Some of the family moved to Ireland around the 11th century.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Elias Disney
Elias Charles Disney (1859–1941) was born in the rural village of Bluevale, Province of Canada (now Ontario, Canada), to Irish Protestant immigrants Kepple Elias Disney (1832–1891) and Mary Richardson (1838–1909). Both parents had emigrated from Ireland to Canada as children, accompanying their parents.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Disney married Flora Call (1868–1938) on January 1, 1888, in Kismet, Lake County, Florida.<ref>Walt Disney by Neal Gabler - eBook - Random House at www.randomhouse.com</ref> The couple had five children:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Herbert Arthur Disney, mail carrier<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (December 8, 1888 – January 29, 1961, aged 72)
- Raymond Arnold Disney, insurance salesman<ref name="newspapers/82391314">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="d23/raymond-born">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (December 30, 1890 – May 24, 1989, aged 98)
- Roy Oliver Disney (June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971, aged 78)
- Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966, aged 65)
- Ruth Flora (née Disney) Beecher, stenographer,<ref name="heritagedata.Oregon/55067">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> WDHM benefactor, and musician<ref name="d23/ruth-born/">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (December 6, 1903 – April 7, 1995, aged 91)<ref name="d23/disney-ruth-f">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="wdw-magazine/ruth-history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="newspapers/82391425">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="mouseplanet/3835">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Roy Disney family
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Roy Oliver Disney (June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971)<ref name=LATRoyODisney>Template:Cite news</ref> was an American businessman and co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. Roy was married to Edna Francis from April 1925 until his death.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Roy's nephew Charles Elias Disney chose to name his son Charles Roy Disney in Roy's honor.<ref name="WomenWar">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Their son, Roy Edward Disney (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009<ref name="Death">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>), was a longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company and the last member of the Disney family to be actively involved in the company. Disney was often compared to his uncle and father. He had two sons (one, Tim Disney, a documentary film producer), and two daughters;<ref name="Roy E Obit">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> his daughter Abigail Disney is a documentary filmmaker.<ref name="WomenWar" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Walt Disney family
Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor and film producer who cofounded Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. He received 59 Academy Award nominations, including 22 awards: both totals are records.<ref name="Nominee Facts"> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
He married Lillian Bounds in 1925.<ref name=wddiofclmt>Template:Cite news</ref> They had two daughters, bearing Diane (December 18, 1933 – November 19, 2013) and after, reportedly, suffering several miscarriages,<ref name="eastbaytimes/2005/06/30/disneys-daughter">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="consideringadoption/walt-disney">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> adopting Sharon (in December 1936, born six weeks previously<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> – February 16, 1993).
Diane married Ronald William Miller, who became president of Walt Disney Productions in 1980 and CEO in 1983, before being ousted by Roy E. Disney.<ref name=disneywar>Template:Cite book</ref>
Sharon,<ref name="gettyimages/sharon-mae-disney">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> who became an actress,<ref name="gettyimages/517258374">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> had three children from two marriages, to Robert Brown<ref name="gettyimages/514968436">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and later, to William Lund,<ref name="ccsnyder/ps45_087">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and died, of complications of breast cancer,<ref name="cbsnews/disney-diane-79">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="medium/6652a86b328f">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> February 16, 1993.<ref name="latimes/1993-02-17-me-60">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="d23/sharon-born">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="d23/a-z/disney-sharon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Legacy
In 2001, the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, housing a collection of memorabilia from the Disney family, many of which were donated by the family of Ruth Flora Disney Beecher, Walt's sister, opened, in the restored Santa Fe Railway Depot in Marceline, Missouri.<ref name="mouseplanet/3835"/><ref name="waltdisneymuseum/museum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2009, the Walt Disney Family Museum, designed by Disney's daughter Diane and her son (Walt's grandson) Walter E. D. Miller, opened in the Presidio of San Francisco.<ref name="WDFM: About"> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The museum was established to promote and inspire creativity and innovation and celebrate and study the life of Walt Disney.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Further reading
- A family feud over a $400 million trust fund, a massive fortune that left one heiress with an inferiority complex, and a sprawling media empire. Meet the Disney family.<ref name="hollywoodreporter/706029">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk/10485976">Template:Cite news</ref>