Roy Oliver Disney (June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971) was, with his younger brother
Walt Disney, the co-founder of what is now
The Walt Disney Company. After Walt died, Roy became the
chairman of the company. Roy served as the company's chief executive officer (
CEO) (1929–1971) – though title name was not given until 1968 –
president (1945–1971), and
chairman (1966–1971).
Early Life
Roy was born to
Irish-Canadian Elias Disney and
German-American Flora Call Disney in
Chicago,
Illinois. He was married to Edna Francis (1890-1984)
[Disney's Magic Makers: Edna Francis Disney] from April 1925 until his death; their only child
[The Windows on Main Street: Roy E. Disney] was
Roy Edward Disney, who was born on January 10, 1930. Roy and his brother Walt ordered and built kit homes from Pacific Ready Cut Homes (a Los Angeles company) and in 1928, they built their homes side-by-side on Lyric Avenue. Their homes were slightly customized and enlarged, and do not exactly match the original homes featured in the Pacific Ready Cut Homes catalogs.
While Walt was the creative man, Roy was the one who made sure the company was
financially stable; Roy and Walt both founded Disney Studios as brothers, but Walt would buy out most of Roy's share in 1929 and, unlike Max and Dave Fleischer of rival Fleischer Studios, was not a producer.
