or, best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.[2][3] Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Early years and start in animation 1.2 The Oswald era 1.3 The Woody Woodpecker era 1.4 Retirement 2 Characters

actersWalter Lantz
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Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz 1990 photo D Ramey Logan.jpg
Lantz in 1990, with paintings of Woody Woodpecker.
Born    Walter Benjamin Lantz
April 27, 1899
New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
Died    March 22, 1994 (aged 94)
Burbank, California, U.S.
Occupation    producer, director, animator, screenwriter, actor
Years active    1916 - 1982
Religion    Christian
Spouse(s)    Doris Hollister (div. 1940)
Grace Stafford (1940-1992)
Walter Benjamin Lantz (April 27, 1899[1] – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, film producer, and director, best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.[2][3]
Contents  [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early years and start in animation
1.2 The Oswald era
1.3 The Woody Woodpecker era
1.4 Retirement
2 Characters
3 Awards
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Biography[edit]

Early years and start in animation[edit]
Lantz was born in New Rochelle, New York to Italian immigrant parents, Francesco Paolo Lantz (formerly Lanza) and Maria Gervasi from Calitri.[4] According to Joe Adamson's biography, The Walter Lantz Story, Lantz's father was given his new surname by an immigration official who Anglicized it. Walter Lantz was always interested in art, completing a mail order drawing class at age twelve. He was inspired when he saw Winsor McCay's animated short, Gertie the Dinosaur.
While working as an auto mechanic Lantz got his first break. A wealthy customer named Fred Kafka liked his drawings on the garage's bulletin board and financed Lantz's studies at the Art Students League of New York. Kafka also helped him land a job as a copy boy at the New York American, owned by William Randolph Hearst. Lantz worked at the newspaper and attended art school at night.
By the age of 16, Lantz was working in the animation department under director Gregory La Cava. Lantz then w