Lucille Martin

 

Here is a photo from 1965 with Walt Disney and his secretarial staff. From left to right: Eunice Combs, Lucille Hoey (later Martin), Walt and Tommie Wilck.

I had the good fortune to get to know Lucille Martin. After Walt's passing, Lucille worked for Ron Miller and then Michael Eisner. I recall a few occasions when Lucille would call me up to ask if I could provide a certain character drawing for Michael Eisner. These drawings ended up being gifts for executives and Disney business partners. 

Lucille was a wonderful person. She loved and respected animation - after all, her former boss was the king of the medium. I never forget her elegance and grace. One time a friend of mine and I took her out to lunch (the restaurant was Ca Del Sole in Studio City). Lucille was more than happy to share her memories of Walt and what he was like. I found it fascinating that she had worked for several Disney CEOs. Somehow I had to ask: "The stories you know...wouldn't you like to write a book?" Her answer: " Andreas, those stories are not for publication." In other words, they were private to her. 

In 1994 I was working on the Mickey short Runaway Brain with a great French animation crew in Paris. I thought wouldn't it be nice if my German family could come and meet me at Disneyland Paris for three days? To make a long story short, Lucille and her staff arranged everything for this "Christmas Holiday Deja Family Reunion". And we were a large group, 10 persons. Hotel bookings, restaurants, shows etc. It turned out to be a once in a lifetime get together with my family. 

This is how I remember Lucille. Warm, generous...and always so elegant. She passed away in 2012 at age 90.