Gene Deitch was an American illustrator, animator, and director.
Deitch began his career drawing aircraft blueprints for North American Aviation before receiving an apprenticeship at the animation studio United Productions of America.
At UPA, he became the creative director of Terrytoons, creating characters such as Sidney the Elephant, Tom Terrific, and Gaston Le Crayon, as well as writing and directing the comic strip The Real-Great Adventures of Terr’ble Thompson!
Deitch relocated to Prague to work for Rembrandt Films in 1959, directing dozens of episodes of Popeye the Sailor and Tom & Jerry shorts.
In 1960, he directed Munro, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film; he was nominated for the same award twice in 1964 for Here’s Nudnik and How to Avoid Friendship.
Deitch died on April 16th, 2020, in Prague, Czech Republic. He was 95.
