Collection: Chuck Jones (1912-2002) Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Chuck Jones was born on September 21, 1912, in Spokane, Washington, but he grew up in Hollywood, California, where he observed the talents of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton and worked occasionally as a child extra in Mac Sennett comedies. After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (now California Institute of the Arts), Jones drew pencil portraits for a dollar each on Olvera Street. Then, in 1932, he got his first job in the fledgling animation industry as a cel washer for former Disney animator, Ubbe Iwerks. It was at Iwerks Productions that Chuck Jones met Dorothy Webster, whom he married in 1932. In 1936 Jones began working for Leon Schlesinger Studio (later sold to Warner Bros.) after being hired by Isadore "Friz" Freleng as an animator. After Warner Bros. closed, Chuck Jones briefly worked for Disney before moving to MGM where he worked to create new episodes of Tom and Jerry and directed features such as "The Dot and the Line", which went on to win an Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Chuck Jones, during the Golden Age of animation, helped bring to life many of Warner Bros. most famous characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Porky Pig. The list of characters he created himself includes Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin Martian, Pepe Le Pew, Michigan J. Frog, and many others. He also produced, directed, and wrote the screenplays for Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", a television classic, as well as the feature-length film, "The Phantom Tollbooth". In addition, Chuck Jones was a prolific artist whose work is displayed at galleries and museums worldwide. He worked with and for directors Tex Avery and Bob Clampett until the early forties, when they moved on to other studios. For the remainder of his years at Warner Bros., he worked with directors Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson.

Chuck Jones remained at Warner Bros. until the studio was closed in 1962. Jones established his own production company, Chuck Jones Enterprises, in 1962, and produced nine half-hour animation films for television, including Rudyard Kipling's "Tikki Tavi", "Mowgli's Brothers" and "The White Seal" plus George Selden's classic, "The Cricket in Times Square". One of his films, the Wagnerian mini epic, "What's Opera, Doc?", was inducted into the National Film Registry for being among the most culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant films of our time. Chuck Jones passed away in February, 2002.