Lee Mendelson | |
|---|---|
 Mendelson in 1974 | |
| Born | Leland Maurice Mendelson (1933-03-24)March 24, 1933 |
| Died | December 25, 2019(2019-12-25) (aged 86) Hillsborough, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Television producer |
| Years active | 1961–2019 |
| Known for | Executive producer ofPeanuts animated specials |
| Spouse |
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| Children | 4; includingLynda |
Leland Maurice Mendelson (March 24, 1933 – December 25, 2019) was an American animation producer and executive producer of manyPeanuts animated specials.
Mendelson was born inSan Francisco and grew up inSan Mateo graduating from San Mateo High School.[1] He graduated fromStanford University in 1954 with a degree in English.[1] He was a lieutenant in theAir Force for three years. He then worked several years for his father, a vegetable grower and shipper.[2]
Mendelson's career in television began in 1961, when he started working at San Francisco'sKPIX-TV, where he created public service announcements.[1] A fortunate find of some antique film footage of the1915 San Francisco World's Fair led to Mendelson's first production, a documentary entitledThe Innocent Fair. The documentary was the first in a series on the history of the city,San Francisco Pageant, for which Mendelson won aPeabody Award.[1]
Mendelson left KPIX in 1963 to form his own production company.[3] His first work was a documentary onWillie Mays,A Man Named Mays. Shortly after the documentary aired, Mendelson came across aPeanuts comic strip that revolved aroundCharlie Brown's baseball team. Mendelson thought that since he'd just "done the world's greatest baseball player, now [he] should do the world's worst baseball player, Charlie Brown."[2] Mendelson approachedPeanuts creatorCharles Schulz with the idea of producing a documentary on Schulz and his strip. Schulz, who had enjoyed the Mays documentary, readily agreed. The unaired 1963 documentary,A Boy Named Charlie Brown, was the beginning of a 30-year collaboration between Schulz and Mendelson.[4]
While Mendelson was attempting to find a market for the Schulz documentary, he was approached byThe Coca-Cola Company, who asked him if he was interested in producing an animated Christmas special for television. Mendelson was, and he immediately contacted Schulz in regards to using thePeanuts characters. Schulz in turn suggested hiring animator and directorBill Melendez, whom Schulz had worked with while creating aPeanuts-themed advertising campaign for theFord Motor Company. Mendelson also hired jazz composerVince Guaraldi after hearing "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", a Guaraldi-composed song while driving across theGolden Gate Bridge.[5]
After a hurried six-month production period,A Charlie Brown Christmas aired December 9, 1965 onCBS. The show won both anEmmy and a Peabody award and was the first of over 40 animatedPeanuts specials created by Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz.[6][7] In addition they collaborated onThe Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, which ran on Saturday mornings during the 1980s.[8]
In 1968, Mendelson produced the documentaryTravels with Charley, based upon the book byJohn Steinbeck.[1]
Mendelson founded and headed Lee Mendelson Film Productions, aBurlingame, California-based television and film production company. Mendelson Productions has produced over 100 television and film productions, winning 12 Emmys and 4 Peabodys as well as numerousGrammy, Emmy, andOscar nominations.[9]
Mendelson died on December 25, 2019, fromlung cancer. He had a wife, Ploenta and four children, includingLynda.[1][10]
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