Erwin D. Okun; Disney Co. Vice President, Publicist

Erwin D. Okun, the public voice of the Walt Disney Co. on issues ranging from the future of the Queen Mary to expansions and layoffs at its Burbank studios to hostile takeover bids, died Sunday of cancer of the esophagus.

Okun, senior vice president for corporate communications and a public relations executive with a national reputation, was 58 when he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Named Public Relations Man of the Year in 1990 by a panel of his peers, he had been a Disney corporate officer since 1984.

“The entire Walt Disney Co. is stunned and saddened by the loss of this warm, gentle, wise and unassuming man,” said Michael D. Eisner, Disney chairman.

Okun, the son of Russian immigrants, was born in the Bronx. His father, Sam, was one of the organizers of the Electrical Workers Union and his son earned a degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University, which he attended on a scholarship.

The younger Okun worked on newspapers in Cleveland and New York and was business editor of Newsday before joining the IBM public relations department. He came to Disney in 1981 from DiscoVision, a joint venture of IBM and MCA Inc., where he was director of communications.

One of his last major ventures was as company spokesman and a primary source for “The Disney Touch,” a 1991 full-length biography of the empire founded by Walt Disney.

In addition to his professional activities, Okun served on the California attorney general’s Commission on Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

He is survived by his wife, Judy, three daughters and a brother.

A funeral service has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park.