Roy Oliver Disney ( ; June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971) was an American entrepreneur who co-founded

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

with his younger brother,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

. He also served as the company's first CEO and was the father of

Roy E. Disney Roy Edward Disney Order of St. Gregory the Great, KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his uncle, Walt Disney, and his ...

Biography

Early life

Disney was born to Irish-Canadian Elias Charles Disney and English-German-American Flora Call Disney in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, on June 24, 1893. The family moved to

Marceline, Missouri Marceline is a city in Chariton County, Missouri, Chariton and Linn County, Missouri, Linn counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 2,123 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History In 1887, the Chicago, Santa Fe, an ...

, and to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

in 1911. On July 1, 1911, Elias purchased a newspaper delivery route for ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

''. 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. The family delivered the morning newspaper, ''

The Kansas City Times The ''Kansas City Times'' was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, published from 1867 to 1990. The morning ''Kansas City Times'', under ownership of the afternoon '' Kansas City Star'', won two Pulitzer Prizes and was bigger than its ...

,'' to approximately 700 customers and ''The Kansas City Star'' to more than 600. The number of customers served increased with time. 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. Disney served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1917 to 1919. His military career was cut short by a contraction of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

during his service and Disney was honorably 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.

Walt Disney Productions

Together Roy and Walt founded the Disney Brothers Studio in October of 1923. Unlike

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

and

Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer who co-owned Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City. Biography Early life and career Fleisch ...

of rival

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

, 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. Roy became the company's first

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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 Donn B. Tatum (January 9, 1913 – May 31, 1993) was an American businessman and the first non- Disney family member to be an executive of Walt Disney Productions. Tatum held senior leadership positions with Disney for 25 years, becoming presiden ...

. 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. Five years after Walt's death, Roy was able to open the resort at a cost of $400 million without having additional debt. He later named it

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

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 ''

'' 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. Roy and Edna's son Roy Edward Disney was born on January 10, 1930. Roy Edward Disney later was vice chairman of

. 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. Roy remained a member of the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

for decades before he resigned his membership.

Death

After the opening of Walt Disney World on October 1, 1971, Roy finally retired, but soon after he died from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

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) Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn cemeteries in Southern California, United States. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. History The first Fo ...

next to his wife Edna in Los Angeles.

Legacy

One of the Walt Disney World Railroad locomotives was named after Roy. On June 6, 2002, his son Roy E. Disney rededicated this locomotive in his father's honor. In September 2016, the locomotive took part in its centennial celebration hosted by the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society. One of the three Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad locomotives is also named after Roy, where each locomotive is named after a past

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

president. The Roy O. Disney Concert Hall, the primary performance space for the

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...

School of Music at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

(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 Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

, was dedicated in October of 1999 as a companion piece to the ''Partners'' statue of Walt and

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

. The statue is located in the Town Square of Main Street, U.S.A., at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. A duplicate of ''Sharing the Magic'' is located outside the Team Disney building at Disney's corporate headquarters in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

—dedicated in 2003. A second copy is at the World Bazaar section of

Tokyo Disneyland is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney park t ...

. The Roy O. Disney Suite is located on the top floor of the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. In 2014, Roy O. Disney was portrayed in the feature film '' Walt Before Mickey'' by

Jon Heder Jonathan Joseph Heder (; born October 26, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his breakout lead role as the title character of the comedy film ''Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004). He also voiced the character in the Fox animated serie ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Disney, Roy Oliver 1893 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American bankers American entertainment company founders American film studio executives American film production company founders American Freemasons American people of Canadian descent American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Irish descent Amusement park developers Businesspeople from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois Military personnel from Missouri Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Roy O. Disney executives California Republicans Illinois Republicans Missouri Republicans United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War I Chairmen of The Walt Disney Company People from Los Feliz, Los Angeles