Collection: Friz Freleng (1906-1995) Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Friz Frelang, or Isadore Freleng, often credited as I. Freleng, was an American Animator, Cartoonist, Director and Producer famous for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of Cartoons from Warner Bros. The nickname "Friz" came from his friend Hugh Harman who initially nicknamed him "Congressman Frizby" after a fictional senator. He introduced and/or developed several of the studio's biggest stars, including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam (to whom he was said to bear more than a passing resemblance) and Speedy Gonzales. As the senior director at Warner Bros. Termite Terrace Studio, Friz Freleng directed more cartoons than any other director in the studio (a total of 266), and is also the most honored of the Warner directors, having won four Academy Awards. After Warner Bros. shut down the animation studio in 1963, Friz Freleng and business partner David H DePatie founded DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, which produced television cartoons (notably The Pink Panther Show), feature film title sequences, and other Saturday morning cartoons through the early 1980's.

Friz Freleng was born in Kansas City, Missouri on August 21, 1906, where he began his career in animation at United Film Ad Service. There, he made the acquaintance of fellow animators Hugh Harman and Ub Iwerks. In 1923, Iwerks' friend Walt Disney moved to Hollywood and put out a call for his Kansas City colleagues to join him. Freleng, however, held out until 1927, when he finally moved to California and joined the Disney Studio. He worked alongside Ub Iwerks, Hugh Harman, Carmen Maxwell and Rudolph Ising. While at Disney, Freleng worked on the "Alice Comedies", "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit", "Margaret Winkler","Charles Mintz". Leon Schlesinger secured Harman and Ising to star Bosko in the Looney Tunes series he was producing for Warner Bros. Freleng and Chuck Jones would dominate the Warner Bros. studio in the years after World War II, with Freleng largely concentrating on the above-mentioned characters and Bugs Bunny. In the late forties, after Tex Avery and Bob Clampett had left Warner Brothers, Freleng's career as a director soared and he won four Oscars during his time at Warner Bros.. Though nominated throughout his career for numerous Academy Awards, it wasn't until 1947 that he eventually took the Oscar for "Tweety Pie". Freleng then won Oscars for "Speedy Gonzalez" in 1955, "Birds Anonymous" in 1957, "Knighty Knight Bugs" in 1958, and The "Pink Phinkin" 1964. Freleng also continued to produce modernized versions of the musical comedies he animated in his early career, such as "The Three Little Bops" (1957) and "Pizzicato Pussycat" (1955). Freleng won four Oscars during his time at Warner Bros. And other Freleng cartoons such as "Sandy Claws (Looney Tunes)", "Mexicali Shmoes", "Pied Piper of Guadalupe" were Oscar nominees.

Friz Freleng died of natural causes in Los Angeles on May 26, 1995 age 88. The Warner Bros.animated TV series "The Sylvester Tweety Mysteries" and "From Hare to Eternity", which was the last one directed by Chuck Jones, were both dedicated to his memory.