Lillian Friedman Astor (born April 12, 1912 – July 9, 1989) was an American animator who was one of the first female animators in the country. She worked for Fleischer Brothers' studio, inking and eventually animating various
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...
cartoons, as well as one
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Color Classics
''Color Classics'' are a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's '' Silly Symphonies''. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color for ...
, and several Hunky and Spunky cartoons, although she received screen credit on only six of the forty-two cartoons she animated in her lifetime.
Personal life
Born in New York City, Friedman started drawing at the age of 12 and later attended Washington Irving High School, where she studied commercial art and fashion design. After graduating, she worked as a fashion designer.
Animation career
Friedman began as an inker, colorist, and inbetweener, along with a classmate named Lillian Oremland, in July 1930 in a small animation studio financed by Montrose Newman working for a pilot that was a fantasy set to Spring Song. They then became inbetweeners at Frank Goldman's Audio Cinema, in a space shared with
Terrytoons
Terrytoons, Inc. was an American animation studio headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, which was active from 1929 until its closure in December 1972 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in-name only). Founded by Paul Te ...
. She recalls animating a
Listerine
Listerine (, ) is an American brand of antiseptic mouthwash that is promoted with the slogan "Kills germs that cause bad breath". Named after Joseph Lister, who pioneered antiseptic surgery at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in United Kingdom, L ...
commercial with germ characters designed by
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel ( ;"Seuss" '' After briefly being in
Seymour Kneitel
Seymour Kneitel (March 16, 1908 – July 30, 1964) was an American animator, best known for his work with Fleischer Studios and its successor, Famous Studios.
Early years
Kneitel was born in New York City where he graduated from P.S. 10 in Manh ...
's unit, where the animators were all mean to Astor and made sarcastic remarks, she went to
Myron Waldman
Myron Waldman (April 23, 1908 – February 4, 2006) was an American animator, best known for his work at Fleischer Studios.
Early life
Waldman was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 23, 1908. He was a graduate of the Pratt Institute, where ...
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor
''Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor'' is a 1936 two-reel animated cartoon short subject in the '' Popeye Color Specials'' series, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on November 27, 1936, by Paramount Pictures. It was produc ...
'' in 1936, specifically Popeye giving the "twisker" punch and the two-headed giant, "Boola."''Hunky and Spunky'' and ''Educated fish'' were two cartoon classics that she helped animate that were nominated for Oscars.
In 1937, the employees at Fleischer went on strike and went past the picket line, and so did Astor. Her open stand for the Commercial Artists and Designers Union, since she was hired there that year, caused direct and indirect abuse from catcalling from the company and they forced her not to get paid more unless she stayed with the union. After failing to find a job after the studio moved to Miami, Florida, which the move was designed to bust the union, which it did. When her husband finally got a job in February 1939, she put aside her animation career to raise a family.