Diane Marie Disney-Miller (December 18, 1933 – November 19, 2013) was the eldest daughter of
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
and his wife
Lillian Bounds Disney. Diane co-founded the
Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) is an American museum that features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. The museum is located in The Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco. The museum ...
alongside her family. She was president of the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Family Foundation. The museum, which opened in 2009, was established to promote and inspire creativity and innovation and celebrate and study the life of Walt Disney.
Early life and marriage
Diane Marie Disney was born in Los Angeles on December 18, 1933. She attended Los Feliz Grammar School before moving to
Immaculate Heart High School (Los Angeles)
Immaculate Heart High School and Middle School is a private, Catholic, college preparatory day school for young women grades 6-12. The school is located in the Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, at the intersection ...
for junior high school and high school. Disney went on to study English at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
.
When she was 20 years old, Disney was introduced to 21-year-old University of Southern California student
Ron Miller, a member of the
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...
football team, on a blind date after a
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
–USC game. They married in a small Episcopal church ceremony in Santa Barbara on May 9, 1954. Together, the couple had seven children whom they were survived by: Christopher (b. 1954), Joanna (b. 1956), Tamara (b. 1957), Jennifer (later Miller-Goff; b. 1960), Walter (b. 1961), Ronald (b. 1963), and Patrick (b. 1967). Her husband then served in the Army and played professional football before
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
convinced him to work for the
Walt Disney Studios, and ascended from film directing and production to president and CEO of what is now
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
.
Philanthropy
Miller was a patron of the arts, as well as a lifelong classical music enthusiast and a generous philanthropist.
Miller published a series of eight pieces for the ''
Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'' in 1956 titled "My Dad, Walt Disney", co-written with Pete Martin. In 1957 she published the book ''The Story of Walt Disney''. After her husband was removed from his executive position at
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in 1984, Miller began to limit her involvement with the company.
In an interview with Miller in 2005, she recalled that she and Sharon lived a typical life, as both parents were very protective, caring and loving.
After her husband joined the Disney company, Miller traveled to Napa Valley with her mother, Lillian, to visit several wineries. The trip inspired Miller to start a vineyard, with the possibility of a winery. With the children grown, Ron left the company and the entertainment industry in 1984. Both he and Diane went on to develop the renowned
Silverado Vineyards Winery in Napa, which became their home. In 1976, the family purchased a large property along the Silverado Trail in the Stags Leap District. They planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay and started making wine in 1981. They expanded the winery to only using estate-grown grapes, and Diane helped create a home and a family-like atmosphere rather than just a business.
![DisneyFamilySchiphol1951](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/DisneyFamilySchiphol1951.jpg)
Miller was instrumental in pushing ahead with the
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...
in downtown Los Angeles. In 1988, Lillian Disney, her mother, announced plans to contribute $50 million to the Los Angeles Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles, which Miller would later come to support throughout her life. More than 70 architectural firms submitted proposals to the head director,
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions.
His works are considered ...
. By 1996, the project was almost dead, but Miller persuaded Gehry to move forward with it, despite problems with poor management and disagreements over the design, and Los Angeles County officials' attempts to cancel it. It was supposed to be worth $10 million by 1997. Diane arranged for the Walt Disney Family Foundation to contribute about $25 million to keep Gehry in control, and the hall finally opened in 2003, at the cost of $247 million. Although Lillian Disney died in 1997 and never saw a concert there, Miller continued to support the concert hall.
After devoting her earlier life to raising her seven children, Miller undertook an active advocacy to document the life and accomplishments of her father, who she perceived to have been the subject of poorly researched biographies and inaccurate rumors. She was also concerned that his name had become more of a corporate identity than a reference to the man himself. In 2001, the Walt Disney Family Foundation released ''The Man Behind the Myth'', a documentary film about Walt Disney's life featuring interviews with his colleagues, peers, and family. In 2009, Miller co-founded the
Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) is an American museum that features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. The museum is located in The Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco. The museum ...
with her son Walter Elias Disney Miller, who is a movie producer, and Miller was also the President of the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Family Foundation at the time of her death, which is a nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Walt Disney Family Museum, located in Presidio in San Francisco.
In 2015, the inaugural Diane Disney Miller Lifetime Achievement Award was created to honor the Museum's founder, to recognize those who have made an outstanding impact in the field of arts, education, community involvement, or technological advancements.
Honorees
* 2015 -
Richard Sherman
* 2016 -
Marty Sklar
Martin A. "Marty" Sklar (February 6, 1934 – July 27, 2017) was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs a ...
* 2017 -
John Lasseter
John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, ...
Death and dedication
Miller died on November 19, 2013, at age 79 (less than one month short of her 80th birthday) from medical complications that developed after a fall.
The film ''
Saving Mr. Banks
''Saving Mr. Banks'' is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock from a screenplay written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 film ''Mary Poppins'', the film stars Emma Thompson as author ...
'' is dedicated to her memory; Miller died shortly before it opened theatrically.
Ron and Diane Disney Miller received a special thank you in
''Inside Out'' (2015).
See also
*
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
The trend of celebrities owning wineries and vineyards is not a recent phenomenon, though it has certainly garnered more attention in today's Information Age. In ancient Greek and Roman times, the leading philosophers, playwrights, politicians a ...
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Diane Disney
1933 births
2013 deaths
People from Napa County, California
American philanthropists
People from Los Angeles
Accidental deaths from falls
Accidental deaths in California
Wine merchants
Disney family
fr:Famille Disney#Diane Marie Disney