Sharon Mae Disney
Did you know that Sharon Mae Disney was adopted by the Disney family? She was a model, actress, and philanthropist who died in 1993. Learn more about her in this article! Then, you’ll know that she was more than a Disney child! What was her role in Walt’s life? You might be surprised. In this article, you’ll learn about her life and her family.
sharon mae disney was adopted by the Disney family
Sharon Mae Disney was born on December 21, 1936 and was adopted by the Walt Disney family two weeks later. Her birth was not widely publicized. Walt and Lillian Disney had several miscarriages before giving birth to their first daughter, Diane Marie. Rather than hide Sharon’s adoption from the public, they wanted her to feel like a part of their family. Despite this, they never published photos of Sharon, who was not named after her mother.
When Sharon Mae was born, adoption was taboo and many people thought that adopting a child was strange. Lineage was very important and few couples wanted to adopt a child. The Disneys kept their adoptions private for the children’s protection. Nowadays, adoption laws are more accepting and children who were adopted are no longer viewed as social outcasts. They are legally and culturally accepted in their adoptive family.
The Disney family is committed to helping others, including children. The family donated millions to charity. Lillian donated $274 million to the Los Angeles Symphony for a new concert hall. Sharon worked with the Marianne Frostig Center for Educational Therapy. She was also active with the Curtis School Foundation. Sherry Disney questioned the competence of the trustees. She said that she had no idea how to administer a large inheritance, but she believed in the Disney family’s desire to help others.
In spite of their great fortune, the children of Sharon Mae Disney were not able to live up to their parents’ high standards. They suffered mental and physical disabilities. Michelle suffered from a brain aneurysm in 2009, and Brad reportedly had a chronic cognitive disability that hindered his ability to manage his financial affairs. Victoria was an alcoholic and a heroin addict. She died of liver failure at age 35.
She was a model and actress
Sharon Mae Disney was born on December 21, 1936. She was adopted by the Disneys two weeks later. Her adoption was kept private and the family remained quiet for her safety. In her biography, Pat Williams stated that the Disneys did not want to refer to her as an adopted daughter of Walt Disney. They wanted her to feel like a part of their family. The Disneys kept this adoption a secret for her protection.
Sharon Mae Disney married Robert Brown in 1959. They had three children and divorced in 1967. Their children were born in 1958, 1964, and 1989. In her later years, she married William S. Lund. She died of breast cancer on February 16, 1993. She was only 29 when she gave birth to her first child. In her later years, she would marry another man and have two more children. She had one sibling.
When her husband died from lung cancer, Lillian Disney married John L. Truyens, a real estate developer in Southern California. Lillian died of a stroke in 1997. The surviving children of Sharon Lund and Walt Disney are now separated. Lillian Disney is the second-oldest daughter of the two Disneys. She was an actress, model, and writer. She modeled for many of the Disney films and starred in several of them.
She was a philanthropist
In the early 20th century, Walt Disney and his wife became rich and famous. The couple’s children included one son and one daughter. Their daughter, Sharon Mae, was adopted by the Disneys when she was two weeks old. Before her death in 1993, she donated millions of dollars to arts and educational organizations. She also stayed out of the spotlight and shielded her children from the fame that came with being a Disney. Her brother Brad Disney once told Eriq Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter that his mother did not want her daughters to be famous. Sadly, she passed away from breast cancer on February 16, 1993.
Sharon Mae Disney was an active philanthropist. She grew up in the Spalding, Idaho, and attended government schools there. In fact, after the local school burned down, Lillian donated playground equipment to the children. Later on, she donated $200,000 to help build locker rooms and a concession stand at the Lapwai school track. Additionally, she donated money to the University of Idaho for scholarships to educate Native American children.
After the death of her husband, Sharon Mae Disney began working in the entertainment industry. She married Ron Miller, a former USC student and football player. The couple had seven children, including one son, Christopher, and one daughter, Joanna. In the early 1950s, Sharon became an actress in the film Johnny Tremain. She later settled into a comfortable life as a mother of three children.
Another philanthropist, Sharon Mae Disney, helped build the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. She was the driving force behind the building of this modern-day concert hall. She was instrumental in convincing Gehry to work on the project, and she arranged for $25 million in the Disney Foundation to help pay for the architect’s fee. It opened in 2003 at a cost of $247 million.
She died in 1993
The late Sharon Mae Disney, daughter of Walt and Lillian Disney, passed away on February 16, 1993. She was 56. She was born December 21, 1936, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents had divorced 20 years earlier, and she was a mother to two children. The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1999, a year after Sharon died. Although they remained close, the trustees of the estate believed Sherry was considering adopting Brad.
Her first marriage ended in divorce. She married Robert Borgfeldt Brown, a businessman, in 1947. Their children were two sons and a daughter. But, the marriage lasted just a few years. After the divorce, she married William S. Lund, a real estate developer. They had three children together. They lived a happy and full life together until her death from lung cancer on February 16, 1993.
She was the adopted daughter of Walt and Lillian Disney. The two met at a park while riding the merry-go-round, which led to the idea of Disneyland. Sharon adopted twins, Bradford and Michelle, during her first marriage, and a third daughter, Victoria, in her second marriage. Her first husband, Bill Lund, described her twins as having Down syndrome, while Michelle was diagnosed with dyslexia.
After her death, her children learned of the enormous inheritance she had received. Although the fortune was more than she could have ever imagined, it had left the children with a comfortable life. After the funeral, Sharon’s children gathered in her North Hollywood office to learn of their inheritance. Sharon’s daughter Diane Disney had seven children, but none entered the Disney business. Sadly, the inheritance passed on to a third child.
Her children shied away from Hollywood
Despite being adopted by their father, Brad and Michelle Disney shied away from the spotlight. Their mother, Sharon Mae Disney, died from breast cancer in 1993, but their kids never met their famous grandfather. Brad is known for leading a “very normal” life despite their family fortune, and his interest in trains and model airplanes stems from his grandfather, Walt. Until recently, Brad was close with his twin sister, Victoria.
In addition to her three children, her father adopted her mother in 1928. Unfortunately, the two divorced in 1968, and the children shied away from the spotlight after their mother died. The children of Sharon Mae Disney shied away from the spotlight as well. The couple’s three adopted children, Brad, Diane, and Paul, were largely ignored by Hollywood. But their parents did not let that stop them.