Museum Home
Main Collection
Special Exhibits
Film Theater


Private Walt
Page 21 of 28 New Horizons: The Family Grows (1)

Walt, Lilly and their children on board the Queen Elizabeth.

Walt, Lilly and their children on board the Queen Elizabeth.

By and large, neither girl was overly delighted with the burdens their father's fame placed on them. "To us, he was just Daddy," said Sharon. "I always wished he was just ordinary people," said Diane. "From the first moment I became aware of his fame, I hated it. I didn't like the attention drawn to me. . . . I loved him, respected him, admired him, and thought he was a wonderful father. And we had a wonderful life. But it feels like for the rest of my life, I'm living being Walt Disney's daughter, without being an ordinary somebody." In 1951 Diane started at the University of Southern California, while Sharon attended Westlake High School. Like so many fathers, Walt decided by this point that he had them pegged: Diane was the intellectual and Sharon was the beauty. He'd comment on Sharon, as she prepared for a date, "Look at her. This is my glamour puss. This is my beautiful daughter."
    While at USC, Diane had a blind date with a handsome, six-foot-five football player named Ron Miller. Soon enough -- with Walt and Lilly's blessing -- they announced their desire to marry. 
Walt cried at Diane's wedding. Tears were running down his cheeks as he gave away his precious daughter. But, she said, "at the reception afterwards he was his old . . . self. He's wonderful. He had to stand on tiptoe for the photographers because Ron is so tall." Ron and Diane, for their part, giggled through much of the ceremony in a style reminiscent of Lillian, almost 30 years before. After the wedding, Ron worked for Walt for a while and then joined the army. He and Diane lived in Pacific Grove, near Fort Ord.
    Diane was pregnant and Walt was delighted; he'd introduce her as the "custodian of my grandson." However, when Christopher Miller was born, there was one disappointment. Walt had assumed that if Diane's first child was a boy he'd be named Walter. But when the time came, Diane decided that this child needed a brand-new name. Walt was nice about it, but he proclaimed that the next boy would be Walter. And that's what indeed came to pass -- Walt would have to wait while Diane had three girls in between: Joanna, Tamara, and Jennifer. After Ron got out of the service, he signed on with the L.A. Rams and played a year for them. "We didn't have a place to live right away, so we lived with Walt and Lilly for a while," recalled Ron. "That was quite an experience. Here's this big guy sleeping until eleven o'clock, and Walt had been up for four or five hours by then."
Diane and Ron's wedding in 1954

Diane and Ron's wedding in 1954.

Walt in his beloved Disneyland

Walt in his beloved Disneyland,
standing underneath the window
that reads 'Elias Disney - Contractor'

In 1955 Walt's career took a turn that propelled his family even more squarely into the public eye. His television show, "Disneyland," began on ABC on October 27, 1954. Walt was the master of ceremonies, and his face soon became known throughout the world. No longer could he visit places and be an unrecognized tourist. Now he was immediately besieged by men and women in search of an autograph. He loved the fame -- much of the time. But after Disneyland, the park, opened the following year, Walt came to understand that his now-famous face meant he was besieged by crowds there once it opened in the morning. This was fun, but it also stopped him from actually getting any work done. So he sometimes disguised himself with sunglasses and a floppy-brimmed hat. If people recognized him and requested autographs, he'd ask them to send a note to the studio. Sometimes, though, a child would approach him. He would place his finger to his lips -- conspiring with his young admirer to keep his identity a secret -- and hand the child an autograph he had prepared that morning in the apartment he and Lilly kept over the firehouse on Main Street. 
When Diane was pregnant with her second child, the young couple started making plans for a new house. Walt drew up the plans himself. At that time he was very excited about the Monsanto House at Disneyland, and told Diane he thought she should use her kitchen as a laboratory of new labor-saving devices. When Joanna was born, Ron called his in-laws immediately. Lilly answered and conveyed the news to Walt that Diane had a little girl. "Oh, how wonderful for Ron," he said, "A daughter. Oh, Ron will just love this." Then, Lillian reported, he lit a cigarette, got out the house plans and said, "Now, let's get separate bathrooms for the children." After one season in which Ron played for the Rams, Walt was worried. The two times he had gone to see Ron play, his son-in-law got hurt -- on one occasion knocked unconscious. "If you keep playing football," Walt told him, "you're going to die, and I'm going to have to raise those little guys." Ron went to work with Walt on a number of television and film projects, including "Old Yeller" and "Darby O'Gill and the Little People." "Walt thought of Ron as being his son," said artist and family friend Herb Ryman. "He would stand outside the studio watching the cars come in and he'd explain to Ron who the various people were so that Ron would know how the business worked."
Walt with Chris Miller, his first grandchild.

Walt with Chris Miller, his first grandchild.
 

 
Back   Forward

Use of this site signifies your agreement to the terms of use.
© Disney. All rights reserved.