Longtime Disney animator Ann Sullivan, 91, who was a painter on The Little Mermaid and Lion King, is third person to die of coronavirus at California nursing home for those in the entertainment industry.

A veteran Disney animator has died of COVID-19 at age 91, and is the third resident of a California nursing home to pass away from the disease.

Ann Sullivan – who worked as a painted on Pocahontas (1995), Lion King (1994) and The Little Mermaid – passed away Monday at the Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF) skilled-nursing facility in Woodland Hills, where actor Allen Garfield, 80, and John Breier, 64, – the husband of a longtime International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) member – died last week.

Another 13 residents have tested positive for coronavirus at the Wasserman Campus, which has 250 residents who have worked in the entertainment industry.

The first cases of virus were reported from MPTF – a collection of cottages, villas and lodges among lush gardens – on March 31 and MPTF confirmed an additional six on April 3.

Ten are being treated in isolation while three are in West Hills Hospital. Eight members of staff have tested positive for COVID-19. They are mainly caregivers.

With nursing homes across the country struggling to cope with the outbreak, MPTF president and CEO Bob Beitcher disagreed with people who believe residents are better off being cared for at private residences.

He said it’s ‘unrealistic for families to provide the same level of care as they get here. Many are quite ill, have multiple co-morbidities, and require around-the-clock caregiving. And the dislocation of moving them could be the end in itself.’

MPTF was founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith, to help people in the entertainment industry when they fall on hard times and each year provides healthcare and services to 150,000.

The campus has a 200-seat theater and the 40-resident Harry’s Haven unit for Dementia and Alzheimer’s – named after sponsor Kirk Douglas – includes a common room with Hollywood memorabilia.

The 40 residents in the Long Term Care Unit have 24/7 assistance.

It’s unclear why Sullivan was living at the MPTF.

‘There are good days and bad days. This was one of the bad days,’ Beitcher told Deadline. ‘I expect there will be more before we get through the tunnel. We’ve got people working very long hours under stressful conditions, providing not only incredible care, but constant communication with family members.

‘The industry can be proud that it has supported us over the years so that we can provide this care to the most frail and vulnerable, and in some cases, to the end of their lives with gentle and dignified transitions.’

He called Sullivan ‘a remarkably gifted and resilient woman’.

Sullivan hailed from Fargo, North Dakota but Beitcher said she succeeded ‘with grace and resiliency’ a fulfilling her dream at Disney.

She followed her sister Helen to California, and after studying at the Art Center in Pasadena, landed a job at Walt Disney in the animation paint lab in the early 1950s. After a work hiatus to start a family, in 1973 she joined Filmation Hanna Barbera and in the 1980s Walt Disney Studios where she worked on the likes of The Prince and the Pauper, Tarzan, and Fantasia.

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Later in her career, Sullivan worked in computerized animation. She retired in the early 2000s.

Ann Sullivan turned 91 this past Friday and her family spoke to her via FaceTime.

She is survived by her four children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Described as a ‘beach’ mom by her daughter Shannon, because she took her loved ones to the beach at every opportunity, she was known for loving the sun and regularly enjoying walks.

The outdoors inspired her work and Sullivan painted the California coast in her early career. One of her favorite places was Nancy’s Garden bird sanctuary.

‘Family was everything to her,’ Shannon said.

Chaplain Dina Kuperstock said she was nicknamed Giggles at the home.

‘She had the best laugh of any person I’ve ever known,’ Kuperstock said. ‘Ann didn’t just laugh with a sound. When she giggled, her whole body would shake and light up with joy, and it was contagious for everyone in the room.’

In California there were more than 24,300 confirmed infections and 732 deaths as of Tuesday morning.

Vanguard