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Tex Avery

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Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was a revolutionary American animator, director, cartoonist and voice actor, known for pioneering animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of the famous Looney Tunes animated characters.

Early Years[]

Avery was born to Mary "Jessie" Augusta (née Bean; 1886–1931) and George Walton Avery (1867–1935) in Taylor, Texas. His father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Chickasaw County, Mississippi.

Avery graduated in 1926 from North Dallas High School. A popular catchphrase at his school was "What's up, doc?", which he later used for Bugs Bunny in the 1940s. Interested in becoming a newspaper cartoonist, he took a 3 month summer course at the Chicago Art Institute, though he left after 1 month.

Animation Career[]

On January 1, 1928, Avery arrived in Los Angeles. He spent the following months working in menial jobs. According to animation historian Michael Barrier, these jobs included working in a warehouse, working on the docks at night, loading fruits and vegetables, and painting cars. He began his animation career when hired by the Winkler studio (named after producer Margaret J. Winkler and later known as Screen Gems). He was an inker, inking cels for animated short films in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series; the character was made by Disney. Avery then moved to a new studio, Universal Cartoon Studios (later known as Walter Lantz Productions). He was again employed as an inker, but moved rapidly up the studio's hierarchy. By 1930, Avery had been promoted to the position of animator.

Avery continued working at the Walter Lantz Studio into the early 1930s. He worked on most of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from 1931 to 1935. He is shown as "animator" on the original title card credits on the Oswald cartoons. He later said he had directed two cartoons during this time.

Birth to Looney Tunes[]

TBA.

Speaking of Animals[]

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Avery at MGM[]

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Post-MGM work[]

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Death[]

On Tuesday, August 26, 1980, Avery died of Gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California at age 72.[1] According to Chuck Jones, when watching a baseball game with another animator, Avery's last words were, "I don't know where animators go when they die, but I guess there must be a lot of them. They could probably use a good director, though."[2] He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.

Filmography[]

See: List of Tex Avery cartoons

Voices[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Tex Avery Death Certificate : Darin Smith : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
  2. ↑ https://www.animationartconservation.com/chuck-jones,-in-his-own-words.html
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