Fred QUIMBY

Frederick Clinton "Fred" Quimby (Saturday, July 31, 1886 – Thursday, September 16, 1965) was an American cartoonproducer, best known as a producer of Tom and Jerry cartoons, for which he won seven Academy Awards. He was the film sales executive in charge of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, which included Tex Avery and the team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, creators of Tom and Jerry.

Quimby was born in Minneapolis, and started his career as a journalist. In 1907, he managed a film theater in Missoula, Montana. Later, he worked at Pathé, rising to become a member of the board of directors before leaving in 1921 to become an independent producer. He was hired by 20th Century Fox in 1924, and then MGM in 1927 to head its short features department. In 1937, he was assigned to put together its animation department.

In 1939, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera presented him with their project for a series of cartoons featuring a cat and a mouse. Quimby approved, and the result was Puss Gets the Boot, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Initially he refused to pursue more Cat and Mouse cartoons after Puss Gets the Boot but success and money earnings that were for the cartoon he agreed to make Tom and Jerry an official cartoon for the MGM cartoon studio. As producer, Quimby became a repeated recipient of the Academy Award for Animated Short Film for the Tom and Jerry films without inviting Hanna and Barbera onstage and his name became well known due to its prominence in the cartoon credits