Roy Oliver Disney (/ˈdɪzni/DIZ-nee;[1] June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971)[2] was an American entertainment executive who co-founded The Walt Disney Company with his younger brother, Walt Disney. He also served as the company's first CEO and was the father of Roy E. Disney.
On July 1, 1911, Elias purchased a newspaper delivery route for The Kansas City Star. It extended from 27th Street to the 31st Street and from Prospect Avenue to Indiana Avenue. Roy and his brother Walt worked as newspaper delivery boys.[3] The family delivered the morning newspaper, The Kansas City Times, to approximately 700 customers and The Kansas City Star to more than 600. The number of customers served increased with time.[4]
Disney graduated from the Manual Training High School of Kansas City in 1912. He left the paper delivery route and worked on a farm in the summer. He was then employed as a bank clerk along with brother Raymond Arnold Disney at the First National Bank of Kansas City.[4]
Disney served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919.[4] He military career was cut short by a contraction of tuberculosis during his service and Disney was honorably was discharged from military duty.
While convalescing from a recurrence of tuberculosis at the Sawtelle Veterans Home in Los Angeles in October of 1923, his brother Walt came to visit late at night to ask for his help in establishing a cartoon studio. After Walt explained that he had secured a deal with New York distributor Margaret Winkler, Disney agreed and left the hospital the next morning—never again having a relapse of tuberculosis.[5]
Walt Disney Productions
Together Roy and Walt founded the Disney Brothers Studio in October of 1923.[5] Unlike Max and Dave Fleischer of rival Fleischer Studios, Roy was not a co-producer. But Roy was an equal partner in all facets of the production company. While Walt led the creative side, Roy guided the business side and finances.[3]
Roy became the company's first CEO in 1929, although the official title was not given to him until 1966. He also shared the role of chairman of the board with Walt from 1945 and succeeded Walt in the position of president around this time as well. He held the position until 1968 when he handed it to Donn Tatum. In 1960, Walt dropped the chairman title so he could focus more on the creative aspects of the company. Following Walt's death on December 15, 1966, from lung cancer, Roy postponed his retirement to oversee the construction of what was then known as Disney World.[6] Five years after Walt's death, Roy was able to open the resort at a cost of $400 million without having additional debt.[7] He later named it Walt Disney World as a tribute to his brother.
Personal life
Roy was married to Edna Francis from April 1925 until his death. Roy met Edna in Kansas City, Missouri when she worked at The Kansas City Times along with close friend Meredith A. Boyington, and she introduced Meredith to Raymond Arnold Disney, who was an older brother to Roy O. Disney. Raymond and Meredith were married and were lifetime close friends to Edna and Roy; they had two sons, Charles Elias Disney and Daniel H. Disney.[8] Roy and Edna's son Roy Edward Disney was born on January 10, 1930.[9]Roy Edward Disney later was vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company. Throughout his life, Roy Oliver Disney rejected the publicity and fame that came with being Walt's brother. Roy's nephew Charles Elias Disney chose to name his son Charles Roy Disney in Roy's honor.[10] Roy remained a member of the Freemasons for decades before he resigned his membership.[5]
After the opening of Walt Disney World on October 1, 1971, Roy finally retired, but soon after he died from a stroke at the age of 78 on December 20, 1971, five days after the fifth anniversary of his younger brother's death. He is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) next to his wife Edna in Los Angeles.[11]
One of the Walt Disney World Railroad locomotives was named after Roy.[12] On June 6, 2002, his son Roy E. Disney rededicated this locomotive in his father's honor.[12] In September 2016, the locomotive took part in its centennial celebration hosted by the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society.[13][14]
The Roy O. Disney Concert Hall, the primary performance space for the Herb Alpert School of Music at the California Institute of the Arts (of which Disney was a benefactor), is named after him.
Sharing the Magic, a statue of Disney seated on a park bench beside Minnie Mouse, was dedicated in October of 1999 as a companion piece to the Partners statue of Walt and Mickey Mouse.[16] The statue is located in the Town Square of Main Street, U.S.A., at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort.[17] A duplicate of Sharing the Magic is located outside the Team Disney building at Disney's corporate headquarters in Burbank, California—dedicated in 2003.[16] A second copy is at the World Bazaar section of Tokyo Disneyland.[16] The Roy O. Disney Suite is located on the top floor of the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
^ abcBarrier, Michael (2008). The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press. pp. 18–20. ISBN9780520256194. OCLC254461789.
^ abcThomas, Bob (1998). Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire. Disney Editions. p. 332. ISBN978-0-7868-6200-9.
^Wickman, Gino; Winters, Mark C. (2015). Rocket Fuel The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business. New York: BenBella Books, Inc. ISBN9781941631164. OCLC904407202.
^Wilson, Scott; Mank, Gregory W. (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN9780786479924. OCLC948561021.
^Broggie, Michael (Winter 2016). "View from the Cupola"(PDF). Carolwood Chronicle. No. 65. The Carolwood Society. p. 7. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 20, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
