Ken Spears

Ken Spears
Spears in 2010
Born
Charles Kenneth Spears

(1938-03-12)March 12, 1938
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 6, 2020(2020-11-06) (aged 82)
Brea, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Animator, writer, television producer, sound editor
Years active1959–2020
Children2

Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020)[1][2] was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the Scooby-Doo franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-founded the television animation production company Ruby-Spears Productions.[3][4] Spears along with Ruby would create many other shows such as Jabberjaw, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, and Fangface.[5] Spears would also work on the shows Sectaurs, Mister T and Alvin and the Chipmunks.[6]

Spears career would begin in 1959 when he started to work for Hanna-Barbera becoming a sound editor, at Hanna-Barbera Spears would meet Ruby when Life Magazine was interviewing members at the studio,[7] they would start to work together on animated projects. Spears would work for several other companies before Ruby-Spears such as DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Sid and Marty Krofft.

In 2020, Ruby died on August 26, and Spears would pass away on November 6, 2020, from Lewy body dementia three months later.[8]

  1. ^ "Charles Kenneth Spears, Born 03/12/1938 in California | CaliforniaBirthIndex.org". californiabirthindex.org.
  2. ^ "Ken Spears". Television Academy. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  3. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (April 12, 2010). "Jack Kirby's Heroes in Waiting". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  4. ^ "Scooby-Doo co-creator Ken Spears dies aged 82". BBC News. November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  5. ^ Nakamura, Reid (November 9, 2020). "Ken Spears, 'Scooby-Doo' Co-Creator, Dies at 82". TheWrap. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Napoli, Jessica (November 9, 2020). "'Scooby-Doo' co-creator, Ken Spears, dead at 82". Fox News. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "ScoobyAddicts.com". ScoobyAddicts. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "Ken Spears, Co-Creator of Scooby-Doo, Dead at 82". kvue.com. November 9, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2024.