Martha Sigall
Martha Sigall | |
---|---|
Born | Martha Goldman Sigall April 17, 1917 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
Died | December 13, 2014 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 97)
Occupation | Cel painter |
Spouse | Sol Sigall (1946 - 2014) (his death) (2 children) |
Martha Goldman Sigall (April 17, 1917 – December 13, 2014) was an American inker and painter who worked in the Hollywood animation industry for 53 years.
Sigall moved to California from Buffalo, New York, in 1926 and by chance lived around the corner from Leon Schlesinger's Pacific Title and Art company. From about the age of 12, she ran errands for the staff there and was put to work as an apprentice painter on July 13, 1936 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, home of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
Sigall worked first as a cel painter, then later as an inker until 1944. After leaving Schlesinger, Goldman worked for Graphic Films, a small animation house in Hollywood. Sigall went on to work for MGM studios in the cartoon unit, and then became an assistant in the camera room. She eventually compiled over fifty years in the business.
Sigall wrote a memoir, Living Life Inside The Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation (University Press of Mississippi, 2005). Her book explores the creation of such characters as Bugs Bunny, Tweety and Road Runner. Sigall has also contributed commentary to the Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume One DVD set, along with Jerry Beck.[1]
She was part of several documentaries. One, made by Teleductions, called Cartoons Go to War. Another was Extremes and Inbetweens: A Tribute to Chuck Jones.
In 2004, Sigall received the June Foray Award from ASIFA-Hollywood for her lifetime of work in the animation field.[2]
In 2010, Sigall helped solve the mystery of some vintage production cels on the PBS series History Detectives.[3]
Sigall died on December 13, 2014, aged 97.[4]
References
- ^ Sigall, Martha (2005). Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 219–220. ISBN 1-57806-749-9.
- ^ Sigall, Martha (2005). Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 228–230. ISBN 1-57806-749-9.
- ^ Beck, Jerry (August 31, 2010). "Looney Tunes on PBS History Detectives". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ^ "Martha Goldman Sigall (1917-2014)". Animation Scoop. December 13, 2014. Archived from the original on December 26, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
External links
Additional Reading
- Nathala Hollt,The Queens of Animation, Little Brown, 2019. ISBN 9780316439152
- 1917 births
- 2014 deaths
- American animators
- Artists from Buffalo, New York
- Women animators
- American memoirists
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- American women memoirists
- Warner Bros. Cartoons people
- 20th-century American women artists
- 21st-century American women artists
- 21st-century memoirists