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{{Portal:Disney/Selected biography/Layout
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  |text= '''[[Walt Disney|Walter Elias Disney]]''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɪ|z|n|i}}; December 5, 1901{{snds}}December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the [[Modern animation in the United States|American animation industry]], he introduced several developments in the production of [[cartoon]]s. As a film producer, he holds the record for most [[Academy Awards]] earned and nominations by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe]] Special Achievement Awards and an [[Emmy Award]], among other honors. Several of his films are included in the [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]].  Disney was the first person to be nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories, a record he shares with [[Alfonso Cuarón|Alfonso Cuaron]] and [[George Clooney]] (although [[Kenneth Branagh]] later surpassed all three with nominations in seven categories).

Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney Brothers Studio]] with his brother [[Roy O. Disney|Roy]]. With [[Ub Iwerks]], he developed the character [[Mickey Mouse]] in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, he became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip [[Technicolor]], [[feature-length]] cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such as ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' (1937), ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'', ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]'' (both 1940), ''[[Dumbo]]'' (1941), and ''[[Bambi]]'' (1942), furthered the development of animated film. New animated and [[live-action]] films followed after World War II, including the critically successful ''[[Cinderella (1950 film)|Cinderella]]'' (1950) and ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'' (1964), the latter of which received five Academy Awards. 

In the 1950s, Disney expanded into the [[amusement park]] industry, and in July 1955 he opened [[Disneyland]] in [[Anaheim, California]]. To fund the project he diversified into television programs, such as ''[[Walt Disney anthology television series|Walt Disney's Disneyland]]'' and ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]''. He was also involved in planning the [[American National Exhibition|1959 Moscow Fair]], the [[1960 Winter Olympics]], and the [[1964 New York World's Fair]]. In 1965, he began development of another theme park, [[Walt Disney World|Disney World]], the heart of which was to be a new type of city, the "[[EPCOT (concept)|Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow]]" (EPCOT). Disney was a heavy smoker throughout his life and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed.
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