Ed Benedict

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

"The Flintstones," one of the first cartoon series created for adults as well as children, debuted in 1960 and was an immediate hit. Forty-six years later, Fred and Barney remain squarely in the public consciousness as pitchmen for various products, including Flintstones' vitamins. Without the time and budget that were lavished on classic theatrical cartoons, TV animated comedies had to leave out beautiful backgrounds and lifelike movement in favor of witty dialogue and stories with vivid characters. Before joining Hanna-Barbera, Benedict worked for another cartoon legend, Tex Avery, at both Universal and MGM studios. At MGM, where Hanna and Barbera also worked, he was the lead layout artist and designer on "Deputy Droopy" and other popular theatrical shorts. He also worked with "Woody Woodpecker" creator Walter Lantz on several shorts, including "The Dizzy Dwarf" and "Unpopular Mechanic.

Among his many designs for them were the characters for their first series, 1957's "The Ruff & Reddy Show. "For "The Flintstones," the story of a "modern Stone Age family," Benedict not only designed the hapless cavemen Fred and Barney, but also their long-suffering wives, Wilma and Betty, and the show's clever array of Stone Age houses and gadgets, including the characters' foot-powered cars.

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.

Ed Benedict was the main character designer for all the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw. Benedict, who worked at MGM, Universal and other studios on short, theatrical cartoons, joined Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera soon after the pair launched their groundbreaking Hanna-Barbera TV animation studio in the late 1950s.

He began his animation career in 1930 at Walt Disney Studios. He left in 1933 to work at Universal Studios as an animator on Walter Lantz Productions' Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts. (Coincidentally, Oswald was created by Walt Disney Studios for Universal). Benedict briefly returned to Disney in the 1940s, receiving his only Disney credit on the animated film Make Mine Music. He then spent several years creating animation for television commercials.

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 Reddy on Ruff and Reddy.