Marty Sklar

Martin A. "Marty" Sklar (February 6, 1934 – July 27, 2017) was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs and constructs Disney theme parks and resorts across the world. He was formerly vice president of Concepts and Planning for the company, before being promoted to president, then vice chairman and principal creative executive before his final role. Disney honored him with a Disneyland window dedication ceremony on his date of retirement, July 17, 2009.

Early life, family and education Sklar was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While attending University of California, Los Angeles, he was editor of its Daily Bruin newspaper in 1955.

Career While in college, working at the school's newspaper as its editor, Sklar was recruited to create a 1950s-themed newspaper, The Disneyland News, a month before the theme park opened. After graduating, he joined Disneyland full-time in 1956, where he held responsibility for most of the park's publicity and marketing materials.

In 1961, he moved to WED Enterprises (renamed Walt Disney Imagineering in 1986), where he worked on attractions for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Among the attractions he helped to design during this period were the Enchanted Tiki Room and It's a Small World, the latter originally for the World's Fair. For nearly 10 years, he wrote personal materials for Walt Disney for use in publications, television and special films. In 1974 he became vice president of concepts/planning, and guided the creative development of EPCOT Center (now known as Epcot) at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort. After 53 years of service, he left The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Imagineering on July 17, 2009, Disneyland's 54th anniversary. He was honored with a window on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland on his final day.

Sklar's autobiography, Dream It! Do It!: My Half-Century Creating Disney's Magic Kingdoms, was published in 2013.

Honors and awards In 2001, Sklar was recognized as a Disney Legend. He served as President of Ryman Arts, whose Ryman Program for Young Artists honors Herb Ryman, an artist, designer and fellow Disney Legend.

Sklar won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) in 1995, and has been inducted into the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Hall of Fame.

In 2016, Sklar was awarded the Diane Disney Miller Lifetime Achievement Award from The Walt Disney Family Museum.

Prior to his death, Sklar was interviewed for Leslie Iwerks' limited docu-series The Imagineering Story, which premiered November 12, 2019 upon the launch of the streaming service Disney+. It was dedicated to Sklar's memory.

Personal life and death

Sklar was married and had a family, including his brother Robert Sklar. He was involved with Ryman Arts, an organization supporting young artists. Sklar died on July 27, 2017, at his home in Hollywood Hills, California, at the age of 83.