The American Oscar-winning illustrator, producer, and director of Tom and Jerry, Gene Deitch has died at the age of 95 after a long career in the animation business.
Reports of his death were confirmed by his Czech publisher, Petr Himmel who told The Associated Press that Gene Deitch had died unexpectedly on Thursday in his apartment in Prague’s Little Quarter neighborhood.
The celebrated director and producer was known for his talent in producing good animated films and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1960 for his movie Munro. Gene Deitch was also nominated for the same award twice in 1964 for Here’s Nudnik and “How to Avoid Friendship.”
Earlier, Deitch had created the Tom Terrific series, while Sidney’s Family Tree, which he co-produced was nominated for an Academy Award in 1958.
Gene Deitch died unexpectedly according to reports
Born Aug. 8, 1924, in Chicago, Deitch arrived in Prague in 1959 intending to stay for 10 days, but fell in love with his future wife, Zdenka, and stayed in the Czechoslovakian capital.
Working from behind the Iron Curtain, he directed 13 episodes of Tom and Jerry and also some of the Popeye the Sailor series.
He captured life in communist Czechoslovakia and later in the Czech Republic after the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution in his memoirs For the Love of Prague.
In 2004, he received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifelong contribution to animation. Deitch is survived by his wife and by three sons from his first marriage, all of whom are cartoonists and illustrators.
Source: Images
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