Irvin Spence
| Irven Spence | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Irven LeRoy Spence April 24, 1909 Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Died | September 21, 1995 (aged 86) Dallas, Texas |
| Occupation | Animator |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Amelia Hossfield (January 15, 1931-June 6, 1984, death) |
| Children | Darlene Saurette (February 5, 1933-April 16, 1979) |
| Parent(s) | Charles Harvey Spence Annie Elizabeth Anderson |
Irven LeRoy Spence (April 24, 1909 – September 21, 1995) was an American animator. He is best known for his work on MGM's Tom and Jerry animated shorts. Spence has been credited variously as Irven Spence, Irvin Spence, and Irv Spence.
Spence interest in drawing began in his youth, when he provided cartoons for his high school newspaper (along with classmate William Hanna. Spence's earliest animation work was for Charles B. Mintz's Winkler Pictures, and then for Ub Iwerks, where he worked on the "Flip the Frog" series.
After Iwerks Studio folded in 1936, Spence worked at Leon Schlesinger Productions for several years as a member of Tex Avery's animation unit. He followed Avery to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after Avery left Schlesinger's over a disagreement. Spence provided animation for Avery's first three shorts at MGM, but soon moved over to the Hanna-Barbera unit. Spence's first Tom and Jerry credit was on The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), which received an Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
Spence left MGM in August 1956 for Animation, Inc., a commercial production studio, before joining his former bosses at Hanna-Barbera Productions seven years later. He provided animation for many animated television series, including Jonny Quest (1964), Frankenstein, Jr. and The Impossibles (1966), and The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971).
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