November 11, 2024

Ron Miller, Who Rose to the Top at Disney, Then Fell, Dies at 85

Ron played baseball and football in high school and received a scholarship to play football at the University of Southern California, where he was a receiver for three years. He did not graduate.

While at U.S.C. he met Diane Disney, Walt’s older daughter, on a blind date. They married in 1954, around the time construction was starting on Disneyland, in Anaheim, Calif.; Mr. Miller’s first job for Mr. Disney was chauffeuring architectural plans between Disney offices in Burbank and the construction site. After serving in the Army, he played for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1956 football season, catching 11 passes for 129 yards.

Mr. Disney watched Mr. Miller play two games that season but was concerned that his son-in-law might be grievously hurt — he saw him knocked unconscious on one play — and asked him to come work for him.

“You know, I don’t want to be the father to your children,” Mr. Disney said, as Mr. Miller recalled in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 1984. “You’re going to die out there.”

Mr. Miller’s first job was with the crew of the film “Old Yeller” (1957). He went on to spend more than 20 years as a producer or executive producer of Disney movies like “That Darn Cat!” (1965), “Escape to Witch Mountain” (1975), “The Shaggy D.A.” (1976) and “Freaky Friday” (1977).

Following his ouster, he and his wife moved to Northern California, where he ran Silverado Vineyards and where she conceived and opened the Disney Family Museum. She died in 2013.

Mr. Miller’s survivors include his daughters, Joanna Miller, Tamara Diane Miller and Jennifer Goff; his sons, Christopher, Walter, Ronald and Patrick Miller; 13 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/obituaries/ron-miller-dead.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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