Walt Disney's Wife, Lillian Disney (AKA Lillian Marie Bounds) grew up nearby Lapwai, Idaho on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation

Tue Mar 21 09:53:06 PDT 2023

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Disney#

Lillian Marie Disney (née Bounds; February 15, 1899 – December 16, 1997)
was an American ink artist at the Disney Studios and the wife of Walt
Disney from 1925 until his death in 1966. Born in Spalding, Idaho, Disney
graduated from high school in Lapwai before moving to Lewiston to attend
college. She left Idaho in 1923 to move to southern California, where she
would meet future husband Walt while working as a secretary at Walt Disney
Animation Studios.

Lillian Disney

Disney in 1951
Born
Lillian Marie Bounds
February 15, 1899
Spalding, Idaho, U.S.
Died
December 16, 1997 (aged 98)
West Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)
Ink and paint artist
Years active
1924–1997
Spouse(s)
Walt Disney

(m. 1925; died 1966)
John L. Truyens

(m. 1969; died 1981)
Children
2, including Diane Disney Miller
Relatives
See Disney family
Lillian and Walt married on July 13, 1925, and had two daughters, Diane
Marie Disney (1933–2013), their only biological child, and Sharon Mae
Disney (1936–1993), who was adopted. Lillian and Walt had ten
grandchildren, including seven by Diane and three by Sharon. During a train
ride in 1928, Walt revealed to his wife a new animated character, whom he
called "Mortimer Mouse". Lillian suggested that he rename his character
"Mickey Mouse", a name which has since become synonymous with the Disney
brand.

Walt Disney died from lung cancer on December 15, 1966, after which Lillian
remarried John L. Truyens (a Southern California real estate developer)
from 1969 until his death in 1981. On December 15, 1997, Lillian Disney
suffered a stroke and died the following morning in Los Angeles at age 98.

Early years
Edit
Born Lillian Marie Bounds in Spalding, Idaho, she grew up in nearby Lapwai
on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, where her father Willard worked as a
blacksmith and federal marshal.[1] She was the youngest of ten children,
and the family struggled financially; her father died when she was
seventeen. After graduation from Lapwai High School, Bounds and her mother
moved down to Lewiston; she attended a year of business college then moved
to southern California in 1923 to live with her sister Hazel's
family.[2][3][4] She was working at the Disney Studio in "ink and paint" as
a secretary when she met Walt.[5]

Marriage to Walt Disney
Edit
Lillian Bounds and Walt Disney married on July 13, 1925,[6][7] in Idaho at
her brother's home. The wedding was officiated by the rector of Lewiston's
Episcopal Church of the Nativity.[8] Walt Disney's parents did not attend.
As Bounds's father was deceased, her uncle, who was chief of the Lewiston
Fire Department, gave the bride away. She wore a dress that she had made
herself. The couple had two daughters, Diane Marie Disney (1933–2013) and
Sharon Mae Disney (1936–1993), the latter of whom was adopted. Disney had
ten grandchildren: seven by Diane and her husband (Ron W. Miller), and
three by Sharon and her two husbands, Robert Brown and William Lund.

Recognition
Edit

Interior of the Lilly Belle train car at Disneyland
Her film career includes work as an ink artist on the film Plane Crazy.
Disney is credited with having named her husband's most famous character,
Mickey Mouse, during a train trip from New York to California in 1928. Walt
showed a drawing of the cartoon mouse to his wife and told her that he was
going to name it "Mortimer Mouse". Lillian replied that the name sounded
"too depressing" and she was very proud to have suggested the name "Mickey
Mouse" instead of Mortimer.[9]

At the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, Walt Disney named his 1:8-scale live
steam locomotive the "Lilly Belle" in his wife's honor. Additionally, Walt
named one of the Disneyland Railroad cars the "Lilly Belle" in her honor,
and the Walt Disney World Railroad has a locomotive named "Lilly Belle",
where each locomotive is named for someone who greatly contributed to the
Walt Disney Company.[10] Walt Disney Imagineering created "The Empress
Lilly", a paddle steamer replica, at Walt Disney World in Disney Springs
and Disney christened it on May 1, 1977. Disney was inducted into the
Disney Legends in 2003.[1]

Later years and death
Edit
Walt Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, aged 65, and Lillian
was married to John L. Truyens from May 1969 until his death on February
24, 1981, aged 73.[11]

In 1987, she pledged a $50 million gift towards the construction of a new
concert hall in Los Angeles.[12] After several delays, the Walt Disney
Concert Hall opened in 2003, six years after her death. She also helped
fund the founding of The California Institute of the Arts.[13]

In the 1990s, reflecting on her 41-year marriage to Walt Disney, she said,
"We shared a wonderful, exciting life, and we loved every minute of it. He
was a wonderful husband to me, and wonderful and joyful father and
grandfather."[citation needed]

Disney suffered a stroke on December 15, 1997, which was exactly 31 years
after the death of her first husband, Walt. She died the following morning
at her home in West Los Angeles at the age of 98. She was interred at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[13][14]

References
Edit
^ Jump up to:a b Lillian Disney profile, legends.disney.go.com; accessed
February 9, 2015.
^ "Walt Disney dies of cancer at 65". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho).
Associated Press. December 16, 1966. p. 1.
^ "Lillian Disney dies". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December
18, 1997. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
^ Litzinger, Brenda (March 13, 2012). "Important women in Disney history:
Hazel Sewell". Walt Disney Family Museum. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
^ Taylor, George (February 14, 2012). "Walt and Lilly". Walt Disney Family
Museum. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
^ Miller, Diane Disney (July 12, 2011). "Remembering Walt & Lillian's
Anniversary". Walt Disney Family Museum. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
^ Idaho, County Marriages, 1864–1950
^ Episcopal Church of the Nativity (Lewiston, Idaho) website,
nativitylewiston.com; accessed February 9, 2015.
^ Jackson, Kathy (2006). Walt Disney: Conversations (First ed.). University
Press of Mississippi. p. 120. ISBN 1-57806-713-8.
^ Broggie, Michael (Winter 2018). "View from the Cupola" (PDF). Carolwood
Chronicle. The Carolwood Society. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on
March 17, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
^ Profile, Social Security Death Index website; accessed February 9, 2015.
^ About Walt Disney Concert Hall Archived November 26, 2009, at the Wayback
Machine, laphil.com; accessed February 9, 2015.
^ Jump up to:a b Weinraub, Bernard (December 18, 1997). "Walt Disney's
Widow, Lillian, Dies at 98". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved
September 6, 2016.
^ "LILLIAN DISNEY DIES AT 98". Washington Post. December 18, 1997.
Retrieved January 27, 2021.
External links
Last edited 8 days ago by 38.49.65.99
RELATED ARTICLES
Diane Disney Miller
Elder child of Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Bounds Disney

Lapwai High School
Public school in Lapwai, Idaho, U.S.

Hazel Sewell
American animator (1898–1975)

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.
Privacy policy Terms of UseDesktop"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Disney#:~:text=Open%20main%20menu,Desktop
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/html
Size: 8234 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/attachments/20230321/cb67fd16/attachment.txt>