Roy Disney Dies at 79

Roy Edward Disney, the nephew of Disney founder Walt Disney, died in December at the age of 79. He died from cancer at the Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, California. His father, Roy O. Disney, founded the Disney Company together with Walt in 1923 and thus the career of Roy E. Disney also began in the Disney film production. In 1967, Disney was elected to the Board of Directors. In 1977 he resigned as an executive of Disney because of corporate friction but remained in the Board. In the following years he invested in different companies as Chairman of Shamrock Holdings. With his resignation from the Board in 1984, Disney signalized that something was going wrong within the company and it eventually came to the unseating of the old management. Consequently, Disney again belonged to the Disney Board. In the years from 2003-2005 there were again disputes between Roy and the executive. Disney again achieved a change in leadership but this time he himself retired from the corporate management and was lastly acting as Vice Chairman. He finally rejoined the company as consultant. (eap)