Amadee J. Van Beuren

Amedee J. van Beuren
Amedee J. van Beuren
Born	(1880-07-10)July 10, 1880 New York
Died	November 12, 1938(1938-11-12) (aged 58) Carmel, New York
Cause of death	Heart Attack
Nationality	US
Occupation	film producer
Known for	cartoons and Frank Buck’s first three films
Spouse(s)	Blanche van Beuren (divorced 1925) Ethel V. Anderson (1927-1936, divorced)

Amedee J. Van Beuren (July 10, 1880 in New York – November 12, 1938 in Carmel, New York) was the producer of Frank Buck’s first three films, as well as many cartoons and short films.

Amedee J. Van Beuren was born in New York, son of Alfred Vignot van Beuren and Marietta Ferguson van Beuren. Alfred van Beuren was head of the Van Beuren advertising company, which became a part of the General Outdoor Advertising Company. Amedee was educated at public and private schools and a business college. He worked in the livery business, groceries, and then as a salesman.

One of Amedee van Beuren's earliest and most successful projects was a series of cartoons produced by his van Beuren Studios, Aesop's Film Fables. Later movies produced included the Frank Buck features Bring 'Em Back Alive(1932), Wild Cargo (1934), and Fang and Claw (1935). Van Beuren Studios also issued more than two hundred animated shorts. van Beuren was president of the Colorado Springs Theatre Corporation and the Kernab Corporation. He was a life member of the Society of The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.

A 1935 lawsuit by Joan Lowell against Amedee van Beuren and van Beuren Studios demanded an accounting of the profits from the film Adventure Girl. Lowell wrote and starred in this filmed version of her book, Cradle of the Deep. van Beuren promptly made a counter-claim for $300,000 damages alleged to have been sustained because of Lowell's inexpert performance in the picture. Lowell alleged that she had not received 15 per cent of the earnings guaranteed her. van Beuren replied that they lost $300,000 on the picture. In making the counter-claim for that sum van Beuren asserted that Lowell "carelessly, negligently, inefficiently, inexpertly, and improperly acted and performed in the motion picture produced as to seriously impair and damage the reputation, fame, and business capacity of the defendant."

In July 1938, Van Beuren had a stroke but gradually recovered, although he was confined to his home. He died of a heart attack, age 58, November 12, 1938, at his 63-acre (250,000 m²) country estate, Dreamwold, in Carmel, New York. A brother and two sisters survived him.