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Page
22 of 28 |
New
Horizons: |
The Family
Grows (2) |
Walt, Ron and the grandkids
on the set of 'Monkeys,
Go Home!'
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Ron enjoyed the working relationship
enormously. "Hell, I even relished the times
he called me in at 6 or 6:15 p.m. I wanted
to talk with him. I wanted to hear from him.
It was very stimulating. . . . Of course,
sometimes when he was in a bad mood, it was
just the opposite." Occasionally Ron even
directed Walt -- on some of the lead-ins for
the "Disneyland" television show. This wasn't
always easy; even though Walt loved Ron, he
showed him no preference on the set. Ron:
"Walt and the writer always went over the
lead-ins together before they were shot. In
one case, they had him behind a desk. He'd
walk over to the bookcase and then come back
to the desk. Well, that seemed like a false
move to me. Why didn't we just find him at
the bookcase and then bring him over to the
desk? |
So Walt came in first thing
in the morning and he went to the desk. I
had it all lined up the other way. He looked
at the camera and said, 'What's it pointing
over there for?' I said, 'Well, Walt, I thought
I could save a move by starting at the bookshelf
and coming here.' He said, 'Didn't you read
the lead-in? What do you think I do? I thought
this out very carefully. We start at the desk.'
We started at the desk."
Meanwhile, Sharon tried her hand as a model.
She even took a small role in Walt's film
"Johnny Tremain." Diane reflected around the
time, as her family was growing, "Dad always
thought that I would be the intellectual and
the career woman. Well, it's sort of reversed.
Sharon's gone out and started to pursue a
career in modeling. And she's becoming an
intellectual and reading poetry." |
Sharon in make-up for her
appearance in the film
'Johnny Tremain'.
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Walt escorts the bride for
her wedding to Bob
Brown in May, 1959
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Sharon met and fell in love
with Robert Brown, a designer at the Charles
Luckman architectural firm. The romance blossomed.
In March 1959, while Walt was recovering from
trouble with a kidney stone, Sharon and Bob
announced to Walt that they wanted to get
married. "She's your problem now," Walt told
his future son-in-law. They were married in
May 1959, and true to form, Walt cried at
the wedding. Soon after, he started inquiring
as to when some more grandchildren might be
on the way. By this time, Diane had given
birth to her third child, Tamara. And Walt
loved being a grandfather. "He was delighted
with our family because he always wanted a
large family," said Diane. "He loved children.
He thought I was bright. He thought I was
a good mother and a good wife. And that made
him very happy." |
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