Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago and grew up partly on a farm in Marceline, Missouri, and in Kansas City, where he delivered newspapers before dawn with his brother Roy. He loved drawing and took art classes. During the First World War he served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in France. His first animation studio in Kansas City went bankrupt, and in 1923 he moved to Hollywood, where he and Roy started what became the Walt Disney Company. After losing the rights to an earlier character, he created Mickey Mouse, who appeared in Steamboat Willie in 1928, one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound. His studio then made the first full-length animated feature in color, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937, followed by Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi. He later produced nature documentaries, live-action films and television programs. In 1955 he opened Disneyland in California, a new kind of theme park. He won more Academy Awards than anyone else. He died of lung cancer in 1966.

Faith: Raised in a family active in a Congregational church. Source: Wikipedia