“Actress Sophia Loren and producer Walt Disney are all smiles in New York City, Oct. 1, 1966 as they hold the silver trays presented to them at the convention banquet of the National Association of Theater Owners. Disney was honored as Showman of the World; Miss Loren as Star of the Year.” (AP Photo)Walt you old dog! I don’t doubt that he was all smiles! With ciggy in hand, too – didn’t he ever put that down?
Walt and Ms. Loren were in New York to accept awards from National Association of Theater Owners, or NATO. During a banquet on the night of October 1st (always an auspicious date!), NATO named Sophia their Star of the Year. Walt had a slightly higher honor; he was presented an award invented specifically for him – the “Showman of the World”.
Walt’s appearance and speech that night would be one of his last; he would, of course, pass away two months later. But it’s great to see him having a blast in the Big Apple; his speech that night was very funny and a nice little history of his career from his point of view. I highly recommend you take a moment and read it.
And to know that Walt had hardly nine more weeks to live is so heartbreaking …
He sure did look good on that picture!
We miss you, Walt!
I love this photograph…What a shining moment in these two individual’s lives…My two favorite celebrities together, it is hard to describe my admiration for Walt, he was my hero growing up, being a cartoon artist myself, a role model, I so admired and was inspired by the Disney studios art and by the man and for all he stood. It is heartbreaking indeed, to now see this photo and know that he passed away just two months after. Thank you for posting it and the his speech that night. I relish the fact that he accomplished so much and with such class the years that he lived on this earth. He left us an eternal legacy that will surely live forever. I am sure he was tickled to meet and be with Sophia, then perhaps the most beautiful actress in the world. It was a heady time for Sophia as well, having had numerous film hits and finally being acclaimed for acting and not just her beauty with two Oscar nominations and one win. Sophia has lived a classy life too, and won many awards, and her beauty and talent were rewarded with a second Oscar in 1991. She recently accepted voicing the character of “Mama Topolino” in “Cars II” in its distribution for 21 countries (sans the US, Vanessa Redgrave si doing the English version), and at a recent interview,she made reference to her meeting Walt Disney and said she took the job, to honor his memory. How beautiful that life comes full circle, and in this case the lives of these two great artists cross each other again via his company and legacy and her continued talent.