Friz Freleng

Friz Freleng
Born
Isadore Freleng

(1905-08-21)August 21, 1905
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedMay 26, 1995(1995-05-26) (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeHillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Other namesI. Freleng
Congressman Frizby
Occupations
  • Animator
  • cartoonist
  • director
  • producer
  • composer[1]
Years active1923–1986[2][3]
Employer(s)Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio/Walt Disney Studio (1927–1928)
Screen Gems (1928–1930)
Harman-Ising (1929–1933)
Warner Bros. Cartoons (1933–1937, 1939–1962)
MGM (1937–1939)
Hanna-Barbera (1962-1963)
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (1963-1981)
Warner Bros. Animation (1981–1986)
Spouse
Lily Schoenfeld Freleng
​
​
(m. 1932)​
[4][5]
Children2
Signature

Isadore "Friz" Freleng (/ˈfriːləŋ/;[6] August 21, 1905[a] – May 26, 1995),[5] credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from the 1930s to the early 1960s. In total he created more than 300 cartoons.

He introduced and/or developed several of the studio's biggest stars, including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam (to whom he was said to bear more than a passing resemblance), Granny, and Speedy Gonzales. The senior director at Warners' Termite Terrace studio, Freleng directed more cartoons than any other director in the studio (a total of 266), and is also the most officially-honored of the Warner directors, having won five Academy Awards and three Emmy Awards. After Warner closed down the animation studio in 1963, Freleng and business partner David H. DePatie founded DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, which produced cartoons (including The Pink Panther Show), feature film title sequences, and Saturday-morning cartoons through the early 1980s.

The nickname "Friz" came from his friend, Hugh Harman, who initially nicknamed him "Congressman Frizby" after a fictional senator who appeared in satirical pieces in the Los Angeles Examiner, due to the character's strong resemblance to him. Over time, this shortened to "Friz".[2][10]

William Schallert claimed that Freleng was the model for Mr. Magoo due to his physical appearance.[11]

  1. ^ "Irreverent Imagination: The Golden Age of Looney Tunes – video dailymotion". Dailymotion. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Arnold, Mark (2015). Think Pink: The Story of DePatie-Freleng. BearManor Media. pp. unnumbered pages.
  3. ^ The Friz and the Diz Sampson, Wade (2006)
  4. ^ Cliping from the Los Angeles Times
  5. ^ a b "Animator Friz Freleng dead at 89". UPI. May 26, 1995.
  6. ^ "Friz Freleng - DOCUMENTARY Friz on Film"
  7. ^ 1940 census
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference obit2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Friz Freleng". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  10. ^ Sigall 2005, p. 62.
  11. ^ Nesteroff, Kliph William Schallert Part 1 Classic Television Showbiz


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