Frank G. Wells, president and chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 until his tragic death on Easter Sunday 1994, died when the helicopter carrying him, two of his friends and a guide crashed during a back-country skiing expedition in Nevada. The pilot and all but one passenger died. Wells, an avid outdoorsman who had climbed six of the world’s seven summits, was 62 years old. Actor Clint Eastwood, one of Wells’ close friends, was also on the fateful trip, but was traveling in a separate helicopter. During Wells’ 10-year-tenure, Disney enjoyed unprecedented growth and revitalization with annual revenues up from $1.5 billion to $8.5 billion. Disney stocks increased 1,500 percent, while its theme parks and resorts revenues tripled. Disney Consumer Products revenues rose 13-fold, and its filmed entertainment revenues jumped 15-fold. At the funeral, Eastwood sang a tribute of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” to Wells, a song the indefatigable Disney executive used to sing on the slopes. The Lion King, which came out the summer following Wells’ death, is dedicated to him. Additionally, a building housing the Walt Disney Archives and other Company departments opened its doors on the Disney Studio Lot in Burbank in 1998 and was named in his honor.
