Roy Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1907-07-30)July 30, 1907 |
| Died | November 7, 1976(1976-11-07) (aged 69) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Artist, entertainer, inventor |
| Years active | 1930–1976 |
Roy Williams (July 30, 1907 – November 7, 1976) was an artist and entertainer forThe Walt Disney Studios, best known as "Big Roy," the adult mouseketeer for four seasons on theMickey Mouse Club television series and for his invention of the Mickey Mouse hats.[1]
Williams was born inColville, Washington and raised inLos Angeles, where he attendedFremont High School. After graduating, he was hired as an artist byWalt Disney in 1930. He worked on animated shorts while attendingChouinard Art Institute at night. He later also developed story ideas for Disney. He also designed over 100 insignias for theU.S. armed forces duringWorld War II, and is credited with designing the mouse ears worn on theMickey Mouse Club which would later be sold atDisney Parks.[2][3] Williams also produced one-panel gag cartoons forThe New Yorker,Saturday Evening Post, and other magazines.[citation needed]
Disney directorJack Kinney described Williams as a "big fat balding hot-headed unpredictable bastard", but hugely admired his prolific talent, saying that he could "sit down and grunt out a few pounds of gags as if it were nothing".[4] The Mouseketeers who worked with him on the originalMickey Mouse Club series, conversely, remembered him fondly. Former MouseketeerLonnie Burr, appearing onTom Snyder'sTomorrow show onNBC in 1975 to talk about the Mickey Mouse Club at the time of its 20th anniversary, called Williams "a warm guy, who liked kids, always had time for kids, and always helped us any way he could."[citation needed]
Williams died inBurbank, California on November 7, 1976, aged 69. He is interred atForest Lawn Memorial Park in theHollywood Hills of Los Angeles.[5] He was posthumously inducted as aDisney Legend in 1992.[6] The historicRoy Williams Airport on Sunfair Road inJoshua Tree, California is named after Williams.[7] In 2015, the airport site was proposed to be converted to asolar farm.
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