Jack Wrather - Other Investments

Other Investments

Wrather further diversified his holdings by building or buying resort hotels and other properties throughout the United States.

In addition to the Disneyland Hotel, Jack Wrather also owned the Twin Lakes Lodge in Las Vegas, Nevada, the L'Horizon Hotel in Palm Springs, California, the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach and the Inn at the Park in Anaheim. In the 1970s there was talk of the Disneyland-Alweg monorail being expanded to stop at the Inn at the Park, that never came to fruition. The Inn at the Park has changed ownership frequently, and is currently operated as the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort.

In 1957, Wrather purchased the Muzak corporation, a company providing "elevator music" for business environments. The company owned an extensive library of "easy-listening" music and one of the world's largest recording plants. Wrather sold the company in 1972.

In the early 1980s Wrather purchased, restored and made tourist attractions of the Spruce Goose and the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

Over the years, Wrather created or purchased many different companies for his various businesses and investments. These included Evansville Refining Co., Overton Refining Co., Jack Wrather Pictures, Inc., Freedom Productions Corporation, Western States Investment Corporation, Wrather-Alvarez Broadcasting, Inc., General Television Corporation, Jack Wrather Productions, Wrather Hotels, Lone Ranger Inc., Lone Ranger Television, Lone Ranger Pictures, Lassie Television, the Muzak Corporation, and the A.C. Gilbert Company. In 1961, he combined his various holdings into the Wrather Corporation.

Disney finally acquired the Disneyland Hotel in 1989, when it purchased the Wrather Corporation. Disney has retained the hotel but sold off most of the other assets.

Wrather died of cancer in Santa Monica, California, November 12, 1984.

Most of the popular Wrather franchises are now owned by DreamWorks Classics (formerly Classic Media, now a subsidiary of DreamWorks Animation). Various documents related to Wrather, Bonita Granville, and the Wrather company are archived at Loyola Marymount University as part of its Center for the Study of Los Angeles collection.