Statler Family Obituaries
Disney, Lillian Marie (nee Bounds)
Lillian Disney dies at 98
By VARIETY STAFF
Lillian Disney, the widow of Disney founder Walt Disney and a prominent arts patron, died Tuesday night at her home in Los Angeles from complications following a recent stroke. She was 98.
Disney was born in Spalding, Idaho, in 1899 and reared in Lapwai, Idaho, with her nine siblings on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation.
In 1923 she moved to Los Angeles to join her sister. She received a job as a $15-a-week "inker" of film frames at the then-fledgling Disney Studio. Soon thereafter, she met Walt Disney and they were married on July 13, 1925, in Lewiston, Idaho.
Disney was married to the legendary studio chief for 41 years. She was her husband's primary sounding board, and he would run his revolutionary ideas, from "Snow White" to Disneyland, by her for approval. On a train ride together from New York to Los Angeles, after a serious business setback, Walt came up with a new character: Mortimer Mouse. Reasoning that the name was too formal, she suggested Mickey Mouse instead. She played an integral role in the studio's growth, serving as Walt's unofficial adviser until his death in 1966.
Following his death, Mrs. Disney became quite active in a number of charitable programs, primarily children and the arts. Later in her life, she was active in fundraising for the much-delayed Disney Concert Hall, a proposed new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She began the effort with a $50 million contribution a decade ago, when plans for the hall were in their infancy. The 2,350-seat Frank Gehry-designed hall is now tentatively scheduled to open in 2001.
The publicity-shy Disney avoided the Hollywood social scene and focused her efforts on building her charities. She was also active in the founding and building of the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, a multidisciplinary school that has produced many of the film industry's best animators.
"This really is the end of an era for the Disneys," said Walt Disney Co. vice chairman Roy E. Disney, the son of Walt's late brother, Roy O. Disney.
Michael Eisner, chairman of the Walt Disney Co., said: "Mrs. Disney was a full-time partner to Walt and we are all grateful for her contributions to the creation of Mickey Mouse and the Disney company, and for the example she set for family life and community service."
Disney is survived by one daughter, Diane, as well as 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. No funeral service will be scheduled. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that contributions be made to St. John's hospital in her name.
Obituary printed in the December 18, 1997 edition of the Variety newspaper.
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From the December 18, 1997 edition of the New York Times:
Lillian Disney, the widow of Walt Disney and a prominent patron of the arts, died on Tuesday at her home in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles after suffering a stroke on Monday. She was 98.
Mrs. Disney, who met Mr. Disney in the 1920's while working at a low-level job at his fledgling studio, was married to the mogul for 41 years. ''This really is the end of an era for Disney,'' said Roy E. Disney, a nephew of Mrs. Disney's and vice chairman of the Walt Disney Company. He added: ''She was a great lady, full of laughter and fun and always prepared to speak the truth, tough and loving at the same time.''
A publicity-shy figure, Mrs. Disney became highly active in a number of charities after her husband's death in 1966 and emerged as a leading patron of the arts. She helped found the California Institute of the Arts, a somewhat avant-garde school that has produced many of the nation's most formidable animators.
In May 1987, Mrs. Disney made a landmark gift of $50 million to the Music Center of Los Angeles County to build a world-class concert hall for the city. Although plans for the grandiose concert hall had stalled in recent years, mostly because of financial and artistic disagreements, the project was recently revived with a $25 million donation from the Walt Disney Company. It is scheduled to be completed in the year 2001.
During her marriage, Mrs. Disney served as her husband's sounding board and unofficial adviser. By all accounts he would discuss his ideas -- from Snow White to the creation of Disneyland -- with Mrs. Disney and sought her approval.
On a train ride from New York City to Los Angeles, after a serious business setback, Mr. Disney came up with a new character: Mortimer Mouse. ''Not Mortimer,'' said his wife. ''It's too formal. How about Mickey?''
Michael D. Eisner, chairman of the Walt Disney Company, said, ''Mrs. Disney was a full-time partner to Walt and we are all grateful for her contributions in the creation of Mickey Mouse and the Disney Company and the example she set for family life and community service.''
Although a vocal figure behind the scenes, Mrs. Disney rarely spoke publicly and appeared at few Hollywood events. One of the few times she made a public comment came after the publication of a book, ''Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince'' (1993), by Marc Eliot. The book depicted Walt Disney as a political reactionary, anti-Semite and a Hollywood informer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In a statement, Mrs. Disney said: ''We shared a wonderful, exciting life and we loved every minute of it. He was a wonderful husband to me and a wonderful and loyal father and grandfather. I am distressed to learn of a new book about Walt that actually invents incidents that never happened.''
Last year Mrs. Disney donated $100,000 to the Nez Perce Indians, who were seeking to buy some ancient tribal artifacts. Mrs. Disney grew up in Lapwai, Idaho, on the Nez Perce Indian reservation. Her father worked for the Government as a blacksmith and Federal marshal.
She came to Los Angeles in 1923 to join her older sister, Hazel. A friend of her sister was working at the new Walt Disney studios, and told her about a job opening there. She found a job as a $15-a-week ''inker'' of film frames. She married Walt Disney on July 13, 1925, in Lewiston, Idaho.
A daughter that the Disneys adopted, Sharon Disney, died in 1993. She is survived by another daughter, Diane Disney Miller of Napa, Calif., who has played an important role in the plan for the Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
©2008 by David Statler of StatlerWeb
Last Updated: November 08, 2010