- Frank Wells
Frank Wells (
March 4 ,1932 -April 3 ,1994 ), was an Americanentertainment businessman . Previously, Wells had worked forWarner Brothers as itsVice President of West Coast in 1969, then in 1973 asPresident , and in 1977 asVice Chairman until he left the company in 1982. Disney shareholdersRoy E. Disney andStanley Gold recruited Wells to become Disney's President and Chief Operating Officer (1984-1994), along withMichael Eisner as Chairman and CEO, in their bid to oust CEO/PresidentRon W. Miller .He came close but did not achieve his goal of climbing the highest mountain on all seven continents; only
Mount Everest eluded him, as badweather forced his party to give up one day before reaching the summit. At theMatterhorn Bobsleds ride atDisneyland inAnaheim , Wells is honoured with skiing expedition boxes littered about the scenery emblazoned with 'Wells Expedition', honouring his love of climbing mountains.Wells died in a
helicopter crash at age 62 while returning from a ski trip in Nevada'sRuby Mountains . Themovie "The Lion King ", which came out the summer following Wells' death, is dedicated to him. There is also a building named in his honor at the Walt Disney Studios. It houses the Disney Archives.External links
* [http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001206X01169&ntsbno=SEA94FA096&akey=1 NTSB Report] on the helicopter crash
*
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