Cartoon legend Barbera dies at 95
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6191999.stmOriginally Posted by BBC.co.uk
Cartoon legend Barbera dies at 95
Joseph Barbera received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in LA (Sept 1996)
Hanna and Barbera won seven Academy Awards for Tom and Jerry
Joseph Barbera, one half of the team behind such cartoon classics as The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and Huckleberry Hound, has died, aged 95.
He died of natural causes at home with his wife, Sheila, at his side.
With William Hanna, Barbera founded Hanna-Barbera in the 1950s, after the pair had earlier worked on the Tom and Jerry cartoons at MGM studios.
"Joe will live on through his work," said Warner Brothers chairman and chief executive Barry Meyer.
"The characters he created with his late partner, William Hanna, are not only animated superstars but also a very beloved part of American pop culture," Mr Meyer said.
Cat and mouse collaboration
Barbera grew up in Brooklyn, New York and started to pursue a career in banking.
But his amateur sketches soon became the raw material for cartoons which were published in Collier's magazine, a breakthrough which then took him into animation.
He met Hanna at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, where they collaborated on a 1937 cartoon called Puss Gets the Boot, which led to the creation of cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry.
Their 17-year partnership on the Tom and Jerry series resulted in seven Academy Awards and 14 nominations in total.
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