Yale Gracey
BornSeptember 3, 1910
Shanghai, China
DiedSeptember 5, 1983(1983-09-05) (aged 73)
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of deathMurder
EducationArt Institute of Chicago, Art Center School of Design, The Chouinard Art Institute
Occupation(s)Animator
Imagineer
Years active1939–1975
EmployerWalt Disney Animation Studios (1942–1956)
SpouseBeverly Gracey
FamilyYale

Yale Gracey (September 3, 1910 – September 5, 1983) was a Disney Imagineer, writer, and layout artist for many Disney animated shorts, including classics such as The Three Caballeros and Fantasia. Gracey joined the company in 1939 as a layout artist for Pinocchio. In the 1960s, he designed many of the special effects for the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions at Disneyland. Among these was a fire effect, developed for Pirates of the Caribbean,[1] which appeared so realistic that the Disneyland fire department wanted an emergency switch to turn it off in case of a real fire.[2] The Haunted Mansion character Master Gracey was named in homage to him. Gracey retired from the company on October 4, 1975.[3]

Family

Gracey was the grandson of Charles G. Yale, businessman and club man, Secretary of the San Francisco Yacht Club and 1st President of the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association.[4][5] His great-grandfather was Gregory Yale (1817-1871), a mining claims and maritime lawyer who was involved in Senator Broderick's case, as well as with Salvador Vallejo, brother of Gen. Vallejo.

His fortune amounted to $300,000 in 1857.[6][7] He was also a real estate investor and an associate of Frank Turk, a pioneer of the city of San Francisco.[8] His great-uncle, Frank Willey Yale (1854), was married to Fannie Amelia Bleecker, granddaughter of Major general Leonard Bleecker, a member of the Bleecker family of Bleecker Street, New York, and cofounder of the New York Stock Exchange through the Buttonwood Agreement.[9]

His parents were Enid Yale (1884-1968) and Wilbur Tirrell Gracey (1877-1946).[10] His father was a US Marshal and diplomat who served in consulates in China, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom. His grandfather, Rev Samuel Levis Gracey (1835-1911) was a Methodist clergyman who had served in the Civil War as the chaplain for 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment ("Rush's Lancers"), 1st Division Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.[11]

Personal life

In 1947, Gracey married Beverly Joyce Newman of Beverly Hills, California. They had two sons, Wayne and Lucky Gracey, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.[12]

Death

On September 5, 1983, Gracey was shot and killed in Los Angeles by a burglar. His wife was also injured in the attack. Gracey and his wife, Beverly, were staying overnight at their cabana at the Bel Air Bay Club, on Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of western Los Angeles. The shooting was reported at approximately 2:30 a.m. by another club member. A police spokesman indicated that Gracey and his wife were both asleep when an unknown intruder entered and shot them both, then fled onto the beach. A motive was not determined, and there were no suspects. As of 2023, the Gracey murder remains a cold case.[13][14]

Gracey's widow, Beverly Gracey, died on November 1, 2017, at the age of 95.[12]

Disney filmography

Year Film Position
1940Pinocchiolayout artist
1940Fantasiasegment "The Pastoral Symphony"
1941The Reluctant Dragonart direction: cartoon sequences
1942Saludos Amigosbackgrounds/layout artist - uncredited
1943Figaro and Cleolayout artist - uncredited
1944''Donald's Off Day''layout artist
1944The Three Caballeroslayout artist
1945The Eyes Have Itlayout artist
1945No Saillayout artist
1946A Knight for a Daylayout artist
1946Lighthouse Keepinglayout artist
1946The Story of Menstruationlayout artist
1946Frank Duck Brings 'em Back Alivelayout artist - uncredited
1946Double Dribblelayout artist
1947Straight Shooterslayout artist
1947Clown of the Junglelayout artist
1947Bootle Beetlelayout artist
1947Foul Huntinglayout artist
1947''Chip an' Dale''layout artist
1948They're Offlayout artist
1948Inferior Decoratorlayout artist
1948''Soup's On''layout artist
1948Three for Breakfastlayout artist
1948Tea for Two Hundredlayout artist
1949''Donald's Happy Birthday''layout artist
1949Sea Saltslayout artist
1949Winter Storagelayout artist
1949Honey Harvesterlayout artist
1949All in a Nutshelllayout artist
1949The Greener Yardlayout artist
1949Slide, Donald, Slidelayout artist
1949Toy Tinkerslayout artist
1950Lion Aroundlayout artist
1950Crazy Over Daisylayout artist
1950Trailer Hornlayout artist
1950Hook, Lion and Sinkerlayout artist
1950Bee at the Beachlayout artist
1950Out on a Limblayout artist
1951Chicken in the Roughlayout artist
1951Dude Ducklayout artist
1951Corn Chipslayout artist
1951Test Pilot Donaldlayout artist
1951Lucky Numberlayout artist
1951Out of Scalelayout artist
1951Bee on Guardlayout artist
1952Donald Applecorelayout artist
1952Lambert the Sheepish Lionlayout artist
1952Two Chips and a Misslayout artist
1952Let's Stick Togetherlayout artist
1952''Uncle Donald's Ants''layout artist
1952Trick or Treatbackground artist, layout artist
1952''Pluto's Christmas Tree''layout artist
1953''Don's Fountain of Youth''layout artist
1953The New Neighborlayout artist
1953Rugged Bearlayout artist
1953Working for Peanutslayout artist
1953Canvas Back Ducklayout artist
1954-1968The Magical World of Disneylayout artist, stylist ("The Plausible Impossible")
1954Spare the Rodlayout artist
1954Dragon Aroundlayout artist
1954Grin and Bear Itlayout artist
1954The Flying Squirrellayout artist
1955No Huntinglayout artist
1955Bearly Asleeplayout artist
1955Beezy Bearlayout artist
1955Up a Treelayout artist
1956Hooked Bearlayout artist
1956In the Baglayout artist

References

  1. ↑ "The Wizard of WED: Yale Gracey".
  2. ↑ Bright, Randy (1987). Disneyland : inside story. New York: H.N. Abrams. p. 193. ISBN 0-8109-0811-5.
  3. ↑ "Yale Gracey - Animation, Disney Legends, Imagineering". D23.com. The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  4. ↑ A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC INTER-CLUB ASSOCIATION BY THE P.I.C.Y.A. HISTORICAL COMMITTEE
  5. ↑ "Yale genealogy and history of Wales : the British kings and princes, life of Owen Glyndwr, biographies of Governor Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University was named, Linus Yale, Sr". Archived.org. pp. 587–588. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  6. ↑ "Yale genealogy and history of Wales : the British kings and princes, life of Owen Glyndwr, biographies of Governor Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University was named, Linus Yale, Sr". Archived.org. pp. 587–588. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  7. ↑ Legal papers of Gregory Yale, consisting of briefs, complaints, writs, court records, letters, memoranda, etc
  8. ↑ Text / Gregory Yale, 1852-1872
  9. ↑ "Yale genealogy and history of Wales : the British kings and princes, life of Owen Glyndwr, biographies of Governor Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University was named, Linus Yale, Sr". Archived.org. pp. 587–588. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  10. ↑ Political Graveyard Registry
  11. ↑ Gracey, Samuel Levis (1868). Annals of Sixth Pennsylvania cavalry. [Philadelphia]: E.H. Butler & Co. p. 22. OCLC 85888211.
  12. 1 2 Beverly Gracey obituary, Legacy.com, 20 December 2017.
  13. ↑ UPI, 1983, Sept. 6, Executive Shot to Death at Exclusive Beach Club, The Montreal Gazette, p. 105
  14. ↑ Ex-Disney Special Effects Expert Slain, Toledo Blade, 7 September 1983, page 14. Last retrieved 21 April 2023.
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