Tom and Jerry director Gene Deitch has passed away at the age of 95. The Oscar-winning American illustrator, animator, film director, and producer died on Thursday night at his apartment in Prague, as per reports. His Czech publisher, Petr Himmel, confirmed the news to The Associated Press where he said that he died ‘unexpectedly.’
Deitch is survived by his wife and three sons from his first marriage.
Gene, whose full name was Eugene Merrill Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons such as Munro, Tom Terrific, Nudnik, and Popeye.
He was born on August 8 in 1924, in Chicago. Deitch arrived in Prague in 1959 to stay for 10 days, but he fell in love with Zdenka, his wife and stayed in the Czechoslovakian capital.
He directed 13 episodes of Tom and Jerry and also some of the Popeye the Sailor series. From 1945 to 1951, Gene worked for the covers and interior art to jazz magazine The Record Changer. He captured life in communist Czechoslovakia and later in the Czech Republic after the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution in his memoirs For the Love of Prague.
In 2004, he received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifelong contribution to animation.
May his soul rest in peace and our condolences to his family.
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