Animation Pioneer Joe Barbera dies

Emmy award-winning creator of "Yogi Bear" and
other enduring characters was 95 years old

Cartoon king Joseph Barbera, shown here in 2005 at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles with two of his company's famous creations, "Tom the Cat" and "Scooby Doo." Barbera was visiting the Television Academy for the unveiling of the massive Hanna-Barbera Wall Sculpture, installed on Hall of Fame Plaza.

Los Angeles, CA - Joseph Barbera, one-half of the renowned Hanna-Barbera cartoon production team, died Monday of natural causes at 95.

Barbera and late longtime partner William Hanna, who gave the world such beloved characters as "Yogi Bear" and the "Flintstones," first struck gold with the award-winning Tom and Jerry cartoon series.  Hanna died in 2001.

Barbera and Hanna teamed up while working for MGM more than sixty years ago.  When MGM shuttered its animation divison during the 1950s, the two fatefully plunged into their own business.

A truly pioneering pair in the world of animated television comedy, they went on to produce a seemingly endless stream of enduring hit programs during the 1960s such as "Honeymooners" parody The Flintstones, futuristic family comedy The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Huckleberry Hound, the ubiquitous Yogi Bear and much more.

Continuing to live on in syndication, Hanna-Barbera characters are "not only animated superstars," Warner Bros. chair Barry Meyer said, "but also a very beloved part of American pop culture."

The duo won eight Emmy awards, including the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1988.

Hanna reportedly said he was not a skilled artist himself, but that his partner Joe Barbera could "capture mood and expression in a quick sketch better than anyone (he's) ever known."

Barbera is survived by wife Sheila and three children from a previous marriage, Jayne, Neal and Lynn.  Funeral arrangements were pending at press time.

Archive of American Television Launches with Joseph Barbera Interview

On February 26, 1997, Joseph Barbera became the first member of the television industry community to be interviewed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation’s newly-launched Archive of American Television.

The complete Joseph Barbera interview is available for viewing at the AAT office, located on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences plaza in North Hollywood. Contact the Television Archive at (818) 754-2800 for more information.