1. Harriet Burns was an American artist and designer.
22 Facts About Harriet Burns
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Harriet Burns earned her bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and studied advanced design at the University of New Mexico.
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Harriet Burns designed props and sets for television shows, including the Colgate Comedy Hour, as well as interiors and sets for floor shows and hotels in Las Vegas, including The Dunes.
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Harriet Burns worked at a tourist attraction theme park in Lake Arrowhead, California, called Santa's Village during the mid-1950s.
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Harriet Burns began working at Disney Studios in 1955 as a prop and set painter for the Mickey Mouse Club.
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Harriet Burns helped to design and build the famed Mouse Clubhouse which was a featured fixture on the show.
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Harriet Burns's appearance caused her to stand out on the set, as she dressed in high heels and a skirt to work with the hardware and tools, such as the drill press and sanders.
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Harriet Burns shared a workstation at the Disney Studio with a fellow Disney employee named Fred Joerger.
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Harriet Burns was working on prototype models for the future Disneyland theme park.
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Harriet Burns contributed greatly to the development of Disneyland at WED Enterprises by creating both miniature models and actual theme park attractions.
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Harriet Burns continued to work on Disneyland expansions after the park's grand opening.
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Harriet Burns personally designed and painted the set pieces and underwater figurines for the Submarine Voyage ride.
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Harriet Burns applied individual feathers to the animatronic birds in Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which opened in 1963.
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Harriet Burns later confessed in a 2005 interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the Tiki Room birds were one of her most challenging projects ever.
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Harriet Burns helped with the models and final designs of New Orleans Square, one of the themed lands at Disneyland.
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Harriet Burns built an exact model of the entire Pirates of the Caribbean dark ride, which opened in 1967, and was a figure finisher on the pirates mannequins.
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Harriet Burns similarly designed The Haunted Mansion, which opened to the public in 1969.
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Outside of Disneyland, Harriet Burns was part of a team of Disney employees, which included Joyce Carlson, which created several Disney attractions for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
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Harriet Burns featured Burns on several episodes of The Wonderful World of Color, a 1960s television show which gave a behind-the-scenes look at the Walt Disney Company, including its theme parks.
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Harriet Burns died of complications from a heart condition at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles on July 25,2008, at the age of 79.
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Harriet Burns was survived by her daughter, Pam Harriet Burns-Clair; two sisters, Wilma Draves and Suzie Mosteller; two granddaughters, Chelsea and Haley Clair; and many extended family members.
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Harriet Burns was a resident of Santa Barbara, California where she had been active in the arts and music community.