Yale Gracey

Yale Gracey (September 3, 1910 – September 5, 1983) was an Imagineer, writer, and layout artist for many Disney animated shorts. Gracey created many of the special effects for Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion attractions. He retired on October 4, 1975.^[1]

Gracey was murdered while sleeping, on September 5, 1983, in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California, by being shot to death by a transient. Gracey's wife, Beverly, was injured in the attack as well.^[2][3]

Gracey was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 1999.

1. Master Gracey in the Haunted Mansion ride is based on him. Every morning, Cast Members place a red rose on Master Gracey's grave. This is believed to have started in the 1980s after Gracey's murder and is a tribute to the Imagineer.

References

1. ↑ http://legends.disney.go.com/legends/detail?key=Yale+Gracey
2. ↑ http://www.mouseplanet.com/8867/Ghostly_Gracey_The_Merlin_of_WED
3. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hU8aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Rg4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6886,4243211&dq=yale+gracey&hl=en