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Lee Mendelson

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Lee Mendelson
Mendelson in 2008
Born
Leland Maurice Mendelson

(1933-03-24)March 24, 1933
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 25, 2019(2019-12-25) (aged 86)
Hillsborough, California, U.S.
Alma materStanford University
OccupationTelevision producer
Years active1961–2019
Known forExecutive producer of Peanuts animated specials
SpousePloenta Mendelson
Children4; including Lynda

Leland Maurice Mendelson (March 24, 1933 – December 25, 2019) was an American animation producer and the executive producer of the many Peanuts animated specials.

Biography

Mendelson was born in San Francisco and grew up in San Mateo graduating from San Mateo High School.[1] He graduated from Stanford University in 1954 with a degree in English.[1] He was lieutenant in the Air Force for three years. He then worked several years for his father, a vegetable grower and shipper.[2]

Career

Mendelson's career in television began in 1961, when he started working at San Francisco's KPIX-TV, where he created public service announcements.[1] A fortunate find of some antique film footage of the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair led to Mendelson's first production, a documentary entitled The Innocent Fair. The documentary was the first in a series on the history of the city, San Francisco Pageant, for which Mendelson won a Peabody Award.[1]

Mendelson left KPIX in 1963 to form his own production company.[3] His first work was a documentary on Willie Mays, A Man Named Mays. Shortly after the documentary aired, Mendelson came across a Peanuts comic strip that revolved around Charlie Brown's baseball team. Mendelson thought that since he'd just "done the world's greatest baseball player, now [he] should do the world's worst baseball player, Charlie Brown."[2] Mendelson approached Peanuts creator Charles Schulz with the idea of producing a documentary on Schulz and his strip. Schulz, who had enjoyed the Mays documentary, readily agreed. The unaired 1963 documentary, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, was the beginning of a 30-year collaboration between Schulz and Mendelson.[4]

While Mendelson was attempting to find a market for the Schulz documentary, he was approached by The Coca-Cola Company, who asked him if he was interested in producing an animated Christmas special for television. Mendelson was, and he immediately contacted Schulz in regards to using the Peanuts characters. Schulz in turn suggested hiring animator and director Bill Melendez, whom Schulz had worked with while creating a Peanuts-themed advertising campaign for the Ford Motor Company. Mendelson also hired jazz composer Vince Guaraldi after hearing Cast Your Fate to the Wind, a Guaraldi-composed song while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.[5]

After a hurried six-month production period, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired December 9, 1965 on CBS. The show won both an Emmy and a Peabody award and was the first of over 40 animated Peanuts specials created by Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz.[6][7] In addition they collaborated on The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, which ran on Saturday mornings during the 1980s.[8]

In 1968, Mendelson produced the documentary Travels with Charley, based upon the book by John Steinbeck.[1]

Mendelson founded and headed Lee Mendelson Film Productions, a Burlingame, California-based television and film production company. Mendelson Productions has produced over 100 television and film productions, winning 12 Emmys and 4 Peabodys as well as numerous Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar nominations.[9] Mendelson died on December 25, 2019, from lung cancer, leaving a wife, Ploenta and four children including Lynda.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Mibach, Emily (December 27, 2019). "Lee Mendelson, executive producer of Peanuts TV specials, dies". Palo Alto Daily Post. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Greilsamer, Marc (November 1997). "Life After Snoopy". Stanford Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on December 8, 2006. Retrieved December 14, 2006.
  3. ^ Gurman, Sarah (June 1, 2006). "Lee Mendelson, Producer of This is America, Charlie Brown and all of the other Peanuts primetime specials". Animation Magazine. ISSN 1041-617X.
  4. ^ Walker, Dave (December 6, 1995). "30 YEARS? GOOD GRIEF!". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  5. ^ Kreps, Daniel (December 27, 2019). "Lee Mendelson, 'Peanuts' Producer and 'Christmas Time Is Here' Co-Writer, Dead at 86". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  6. ^ Barnes, Mike (December 27, 2019). "Lee Mendelson, Prolific Producer of 'Peanuts' TV Specials, Dies at 86". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  7. ^ Boucher, Geoff (December 27, 2019). "Lee Mendelson Dies: Producer Of 'Peanuts' TV Specials Was 86". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  8. ^ Murray, Noel (January 9, 2013). "The Charlie Brown And Snoopy Show: The Complete Animated Series". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "Lee Mendelson Awards & Nominations". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
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