Roy E Disney

Born Jan. 10, 1930, in Los Angeles, Disney was the only child of Roy O. and Edna Disney. After graduating from Pomona College, Disney initially spurned working for the studio, taking a job as a film editor on the television police series "Dragnet." When he was laid off from that job, his father arranged a job at the company. In 1955, he married Patty Dailey, sister of boyhood friend Peter Dailey. The couple had two sons and two daughters. They divorced in 2007, after 52 years of marriage. He married the former Leslie DeMeuse in 2008. Disney devoted the first 20 years of his career to working on nature films, including the Academy Award-winning True-Life Adventure features "The Living Desert" and "The Vanishing Prairie." His 1959 short subject "Mysteries of the Deep" received an Oscar nomination. After the death of Walt in 1966 and Roy's father in 1971, the younger Disney was spurned in his efforts to take a larger role with the company. He finally quit in 1977, but remained on its board as a director, where he was largely a figurehead. Adrift, Disney hooked up with lawyer Stanley Gold and became a successful financier, investing in a variety of businesses that included broadcasting, soybeans and Israeli industrial concerns through Shamrock Holdings, a company named for one of Disney's racing sloops. He served as chairman of the company, which has approximately $2 billion under management. As a vice chairman of the studio's board of directors, Disney would frequently appear at theme parks or help promote the company's animated films. With his oval face, sloping nose, protruding ears and mustache, Disney resembled his uncle to the point where people in public would frequently approach him to ask if he was Walt's brother. Among his philanthropic activities, Disney served on the board of trustees of California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, where he helped carry out the dream of Walt and his father to build and sustain a top arts college in Southern California. He was a major donor for the construction of REDCAT, the college's experimental theater named for his parents that adjoins Disney Concert Hall. He also was chairman emeritus of the board of directors of the Peregrine Fund, which reflected his efforts to save the bird of prey that was the subject of his 1968 documentary, "Varda, the Peregrine Falcon." Roy and his wife filed for divorce in 2007 at the ages of 77 and 72, respectively, after 52 years of marriage. Roy, a nephew of Walt Disney, was worth approximately $1.3 billion at the time. Previously a Forbes 400 mainstay, he lost nearly half of his fortune in the split and was dropped from the list. In 2008, he married writer and producer Leslie DeMeuse. He died a year later; Patricia followed in 2012. A family foundation with assets of $122 million (as of 2016) bearing both of their names supports environmental and economic causes. In addition to his wife, Leslie, and daughter Abigail, Disney is survived by another daughter, Susan M. Disney Lord; his sons, Roy P. Disney and Timothy J. Disney; and 16 grandchildren.