Leota Toombs

Leota Anne Wharton was an American Imagineer and artist, who was well-known for portraying the face of Madame Leota in The Haunted Mansion, for whom she is the namesake.
She began her career at the Walt Disney Studios in 1940, when she was hired into the Ink and Paint department. She then transferred to the Animation Department, where she met animator Harvey Toombs, who also began his Disney career in 1940. She married him in 1947 and left the company to raise their two daughters Launie and Kim. She would return to Disney in 1962 as her husband was leaving to work for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Joining WED Enterprises, now known as Walt Disney Imagineering, she created and developed designs for the 1964 New York World's Fair, playing pivotal roles in the creation of It's a Small World, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the Ford Magic Skyway. After the World's Fair ended, Toombs transferred her talents to some of the most beloved attractions at Disneyland, including Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.
When the idea of a disembodied head that speaks from inside a crystal ball came along during The Haunted Mansion's development, Yale Gracey asked Toombs to pose for the head, just so they could test it out. However, it was decided that actress Eleanor Audley should provide Leota's voice, due to the menacing quality of her voice. But the 'Little Leota' bride at the end of the ride does have Toombs' small high-pitched voice.
She eventually relocated to Walt Disney World in 1971 to start up the on-site team that would maintain the shows and attractions in the Magic Kingdom park, where she met her second husband Hugh Thomas. After returning to California in 1979, she worked in several different capacities, including at Walt Disney Imagineering, where she trained many Disneyland figure-finishers, artisans, and up-and-coming Imagineers in the Staff, Paint, and Sign shops of Disneyland’s WDI Show Quality Service Department, ensuring that Disney’s attractions would retain the same level of quality and detail they had carried in the past. Toombs also helped found the Thomas Ceramics Company and designed special molds for distribution and retail in the Lillian Vernon Catalog.
Toombs passed away from cancer on December 21, 1991 and was survived by her daughters and grandchildren, Emily, Ali, and Damon.
==Gallery==
Leota Toombs 1.jpg
Leota Toombs 2.png
Leota Toombs with her granddaughter.jpg|Toombs with her granddaughter Ali.
==Trivia==
*Her daughter, Kim Irvine is also an Imagineer, having started with the company in 1970.
==External links==
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*Dear Sweet Leota
Category:Females
Category:1920s births
Category:1990s deaths
Category:Deceased
Category:People from California
Category:American people
Category:Artists
Category:Voice actresses
Category:Imagineers
Category:The Haunted Mansion
Category:Disney Legends
Category:Pirates of the Caribbean
Category:It's a Small World
Category:Disneyland
Category:Walt Disney World Resort
Category:Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
Category:Enchanted Tiki Room
Category:Walt Disney Imagineering