Ed Benedict

Ed Benedict (August 23, 1912 – August 28, 2006) was an American animator and layout artist. He is best known for his work with Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he helped design Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and Huckleberry Hound.

Career Benedict began his animation career at Walt Disney Productions in 1930, and ultimately left three years later to work at Universal Pictures as an animator on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. He worked at Screen Gems for the bulk of his career. He briefly returned to Disney in the 1940s, receiving his only Disney credit on the animated film Make Mine Music.

In 1952, Benedict was contacted by Tex Avery, who had worked with him at Universal. Avery invited Benedict to work on Avery's animation unit at MGM. Benedict performed lead animation and layout duties for Avery, and later for Michael Lah after Avery's departure from the studio. His work can be seen in Dixieland Droopy, The First Bad Man, and Deputy Droopy. He is cited as a major inspiration by animator John Kricfalusi (whom Ed worked for on A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith), among others.

Benedict died in his sleep at his home in Auburn, California on August 28, 2006.

Awards Golden Award, 1985 Winsor McCay Award, 1994