Gene Deitch, Tom & Jerry Director Dies At Age 95.

Gene Deitch, the Oscar award winning director of popular cartoon series Tom & Jerry, passes on to glory, at age 95. It is gathered that the Tom and Jerry director died on Thursday night at his apartment in Prague.

Born Eugene Merrill Deitch, he directed 13 episodes of Tom and Jerry and several episodes of the series Popeye. He was born in Chicago but moved to Prague in 1959 after what was only supposed to be a 10-day visit. But he fell in love with his future wife, Zdenka and stayed in the Czechoslovakian capital. The animator and illustrator won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Munro in 1960.

The cause of his death was not disclosed to public, however his Czech publisher Petr Himmel said he died “unexpectedly.”

He is survived by his wife and three sons from his first marriage. The children all followed in his footsteps and work as cartoonists and illustrator.

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