# Yale Gracey

Yale Wilbur Gracey (September 3, 1910 – September 5, 1983) was a Disney Imagineer, writer, and layout artist for many Disney animated shorts, including classics such as The Three Caballeros and Fantasia. Gracey joined the company in 1939 as a layout artist for Pinocchio. In the 1960s, he designed many of the special effects for the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions at Disneyland. Among these was a fire effect, developed for Pirates of the Caribbean, which appeared so realistic that the Disneyland fire department wanted an emergency switch to turn it off in case of a real fire. The Haunted Mansion character Master Gracey was named in homage to him. Gracey retired from the company on October 4, 1975.

## Family

Gracey was the grandson of Charles G. Yale, businessman and club man, Secretary of the San Francisco Yacht Club and 1st President of the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association. His great-grandfather was Colonel Gregory Yale (1817-1871), a mining claims and maritime lawyer, who arrived in San Francisco in 1849, and was involved in Senator Broderick's case, as well as with Salvador Vallejo, brother of Gen. Vallejo.
He was in partnership under Yale & McConnell, with Attorney General of California John R. McConnell, and sat on committees with Congressman Thompson Campbell, Senator John S. Hager, Congressman Joseph P. Hoge, and at events with Gov. John B. Weller. He defended the Vice President of the Republic of Lower California, Col. Watkins, with Gov. Henry S. Foote, and Yale was involved himself in a duel against Bailie Peyton.
His fortune amounted to $300,000 in 1857. He was also a real estate investor and an associate of Frank Turk, a pioneer of the city of San Francisco. His great-uncle, Frank Willey Yale (1854), was married to Fannie Amelia Bleecker, granddaughter of Major general Leonard Bleecker, a member of the Bleecker family of Bleecker Street, New York, and cofounder of the New York Stock Exchange through the Buttonwood Agreement.

## Personal life

Gracey's parents were Enid Yale (1884-1968) and Wilbur Tirrell Gracey (1877-1946). His father was a US Marshal and diplomat who served in consulates in China, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom. His grandfather, Rev Samuel Levis Gracey (1835-1911) was a Methodist clergyman who had served in the Civil War as the chaplain for 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment ("Rush's Lancers"), 1st Division Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.
In 1947, Gracey married Beverly Joyce Newman of Beverly Hills, California. They had two sons, Wayne and Lucky Gracey, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

## Death

On September 5, 1983, Gracey was shot and killed in Los Angeles by a burglar. His wife was also injured in the attack. Gracey and his wife, Beverly, were staying overnight at their cabana at the Bel Air Bay Club, on Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of western Los Angeles. The shooting was reported at approximately 2:30 a.m. by another club member. A police spokesman indicated that Gracey and his wife were both asleep when an unknown intruder entered and shot them both, then fled onto the beach. A motive was not determined, and there were no suspects. As of 2023, the Gracey murder remains a cold case.
Gracey's widow, Beverly Gracey, died on November 1, 2017, at the age of 95.

## Disney filmography

| Year | Film | Position |
| 1940 | Pinocchio | layout artist |
| 1940 | Fantasia | segment "The Pastoral Symphony" |
| 1941 | The Reluctant Dragon | art direction: cartoon sequences |
| 1942 | Saludos Amigos | backgrounds/layout artist - uncredited |
| 1943 | Figaro and Cleo | layout artist - uncredited |
| 1944 | ''Donald's Off Day'' | layout artist |
| 1944 | The Three Caballeros | layout artist |
| 1945 | The Eyes Have It | layout artist |
| 1945 | No Sail | layout artist |
| 1946 | A Knight for a Day | layout artist |
| 1946 | Lighthouse Keeping | layout artist |
| 1946 | The Story of Menstruation | layout artist |
| 1946 | Frank Duck Brings 'em Back Alive | layout artist - uncredited |
| 1946 | Double Dribble | layout artist |
| 1947 | Straight Shooters | layout artist |
| 1947 | Clown of the Jungle | layout artist |
| 1947 | Bootle Beetle | layout artist |
| 1947 | Foul Hunting | layout artist |
| 1947 | ''Chip an' Dale'' | layout artist |
| 1948 | They're Off | layout artist |
| 1948 | Inferior Decorator | layout artist |
| 1948 | ''Soup's On'' | layout artist |
| 1948 | Three for Breakfast | layout artist |
| 1948 | Tea for Two Hundred | layout artist |
| 1949 | ''Donald's Happy Birthday'' | layout artist |
| 1949 | Sea Salts | layout artist |
| 1949 | Winter Storage | layout artist |
| 1949 | Honey Harvester | layout artist |
| 1949 | All in a Nutshell | layout artist |
| 1949 | The Greener Yard | layout artist |
| 1949 | Slide, Donald, Slide | layout artist |
| 1949 | Toy Tinkers | layout artist |
| 1950 | Lion Around | layout artist |
| 1950 | Crazy Over Daisy | layout artist |
| 1950 | Trailer Horn | layout artist |
| 1950 | Hook, Lion and Sinker | layout artist |
| 1950 | Bee at the Beach | layout artist |
| 1950 | Out on a Limb | layout artist |
| 1951 | Chicken in the Rough | layout artist |
| 1951 | Dude Duck | layout artist |
| 1951 | Corn Chips | layout artist |
| 1951 | Test Pilot Donald | layout artist |
| 1951 | Lucky Number | layout artist |
| 1951 | Out of Scale | layout artist |
| 1951 | Bee on Guard | layout artist |
| 1952 | Donald Applecore | layout artist |
| 1952 | Lambert the Sheepish Lion | layout artist |
| 1952 | Two Chips and a Miss | layout artist |
| 1952 | Let's Stick Together | layout artist |
| 1952 | ''Uncle Donald's Ants'' | layout artist |
| 1952 | Trick or Treat | background artist, layout artist |
| 1952 | ''Pluto's Christmas Tree'' | layout artist |
| 1953 | ''Don's Fountain of Youth'' | layout artist |
| 1953 | The New Neighbor | layout artist |
| 1953 | Rugged Bear | layout artist |
| 1953 | Working for Peanuts | layout artist |
| 1953 | Canvas Back Duck | layout artist |
| 1954-1968 | The Magical World of Disney | layout artist, stylist ("The Plausible Impossible") |
| 1954 | Spare the Rod | layout artist |
| 1954 | Dragon Around | layout artist |
| 1954 | Grin and Bear It | layout artist |
| 1954 | The Flying Squirrel | layout artist |
| 1955 | No Hunting | layout artist |
| 1955 | Bearly Asleep | layout artist |
| 1955 | Beezy Bear | layout artist |
| 1955 | Up a Tree | layout artist |
| 1956 | Hooked Bear | layout artist |
| 1956 | In the Bag | layout artist |