Walter Elias Disney founded the Walt Disney Company in 1923, which has grown to be the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world with ventures in studio entertainment, parks and resorts, consumer products, and media networks. Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, and entertainer who was born in 1901 in Illinois and died in 1966 in California, having received 26 Academy Awards for his work in the entertainment industry.