Biography for
Chuck Jones (I)

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Geburtstag

21 September 1912, Spokane, Washington, USA

Todestag

22 February 2002, Corona Del Mar, California, USA (congestive heart failure)

Bürgerlicher Name

Charles Martin Jones

Spitzname

Chuck
The Father of Contemporary Animation

Kurzbiographie

Starting as a cel washer, Chuck Jones worked his way up to animator and then director at the animation division of Warner Bros. He is famous for creating such beloved cartoon characters as Wile E. Coyote, Henery Hawk, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Ralph Wolf, Road Runner, Sam Sheepdog, Sniffles, and many others, as well as adding to the development of Warner favorites such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and countless others.

His most famous cartoons tend to have been created with writer Michael Maltese. Jones' autobiography, published by Simon & Schuster "Chuck Amuck"--a pun on his Daffy Duck short Duck Amuck (1953)--gives a very amusing account of his life. It is liberally sprinkled with hundreds of cartoons with some color plates.

IMDb Kurz-Biographie von: Chuck Jones

Verheiratet mit

Marian Dern	(1981 - 22 February 2002) (his death)
Dorothy Jones	(1935 - 28 February 1978) (her death) 1 child

Markenzeichen

Characters created by Jones: Pepe le Pew, Hubie and Bertie, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, and Claude Cat, among others.

Dies und das

Close friend of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss of "The Cat in the Hat" fame).

Father of Linda Jones Clough.

At 85, Chuck signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. to supervise the animation department. His thoughts on the contract were: "At 85 you can only think ahead for the next 50 years or so.".

His cartoons What's Opera, Doc? (1957), Duck Amuck (1953) and more recently One Froggy Evening (1955) have been accepted into the US National Film Registry.

Has three grandchildren; three step-grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, a step-son and step-daughter.

Interviewed in Peter Bogdanovich's "Who the Devil Made It: Conversations With Robert Aldrich, George Cukor, Allan Dwan, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Chuck Jones, Fritz Lang, Joseph H. Lewis, Sidney Lumet, Leo McCarey, Otto Preminger, Don Siegel, Josef von Sternberg, Frank Tashlin, Edgar G. Ulmer, Raoul Walsh." NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.

Has been a close friend of Ray Bradbury for more than 50 years.

When he was hired at Leon Schlesinger's studio, he rose from assistant animator to director in only five years.

Also sprach...

"Animation isn't the illusion of life; it is life!"

[On one of his most famous characters] "The coyote is victimized by his own ineptitude. I never understood how to use tools and that's really the coyote's problem."

[about animation] "I don't think it has to be realistic. It just has to be believable."

If you want to draw Bugs Bunny, just learn to draw a carrot and hook a rabbit on to it.

"I think he's a heroic character. I admire him because he keeps trying all the time. Also, it's legitimate -- he is just trying to get something to eat. Evidence of logic is vital to comedy. You must believe it or you can't laugh at it. The Coyote and the Road Runner are the only two alive out there. There was a drought or famine. The Road Runner, who lives on insects, probably didn't have to leave during the drought. The coyote starts out after him because there's nothing left and by the time that others return the coyote has become a fanatic. That fanaticism is more vital to him -- and us -- than any present need. We all pursue hopeless goals at times, don't we?" (on Wile E. Coyote)

"The Road Runner is really a force. He's the Coyote's Holy Grail. You don't have to put a personality on the Holy Grail; you only need somebody pursuing it."

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