Jay Ward Biography

Fast Facts

• Graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and earned his MBA from Harvard University
• Had a successful career in real estate that allowed him to invest in his friend Alexander Anderson Jr․'s animation business in the mid-1940s
• The first project he worked on was "The Comic Strips of Television," which was broadcast in 1948 and introduced the characters Crusader Rabbit and Dudley Do-Right
• The series "Crusader Rabbit" that he created with Alexander Anderson Jr․ became the first animated series to debut on TV in 1949
• Quote: "We'd go to the networks and we'd pitch them our ideas․ They'd laugh and laugh and say we were the only people who brought them anything really funny․ But they didn't buy․ We were just too crazy for them․"
• Founded the production company Jay Ward Productions in 1949, which produced his animated series as well as designed trademark characters for companies like Cap'n Crunch and King Vitaman
• Was joined by producer Bill Scott, the voice of Bullwinkle and "George of the Jungle," to make shows like "Peabody's Improbable History" and "Fractured Fairy Tales․"
• Best known as an animator who created and produced "Rocky and Bullwinkle," "Peabody and Sherman," and "George of the Jungle․"