Diane Disney Miller

Diane Marie Disney-Miller (December 18, 1933 – November 19, 2013) was the only biological child of Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Bounds Disney. Diane co-

founded the Walt Disney Family 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.

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 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 in 1984, Miller began to limit her involvement with the company. In an interview with Diane in 2005, she recalled that she and Sharon lived a typical life, as both parents were very protective, caring and loving.

Miller was instrumental in pushing ahead with the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The project was initiated with a $50 million gift from her mother in 1988, but was stalled for a time due to cost negotiations. She was an ardent supporter of architect Frank Gehry as its designer. The hall finally opened in 2004.

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, Diane co-founded the Walt Disney Family Museum with her son Walter Elias Disney Miller, who is a movie producer, and Disney 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.

Diane Disney Miller died on November 19, 2013, at age 79 from medical complications that developed after a fall.

The film Saving Mr. Banks 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).