Gordon A. Sheehan (born Gordon Augustine Holland May 11, 1910 – September 6, 1996), was an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. He spent the early part of his career at

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

animating notable features such as

Betty Boop Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer ...

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

, and

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

, among other works.

Early life

Born in Mechanicville,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, he was the seventh of eight children of Patrick and Anna (Hammond) Holland, who were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

immigrants from

county Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

. After the death of his mother at the age of five, he went to live with a family by the name of Sheehan, whose surname he assumed, although, he was never legally adopted by them.

Education

Sheehan was a 1928 graduate of Mechanicville High School, and received his artistic education at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

, graduating in 1932.

Career

Sheehan joined the

Fleischer Studio Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of ...

in 1933, where he worked animating various series of cartoon, such as

. Sheehan formed his own studio in 1944 that largely produced animated governmental and educational films, along with cartoons inspired by the work of

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

. Later he was the head of animation at Sound Masters, Inc. and

Coronet Films Coronet Films (also known as Coronet Instructional Media Inc.) was a leading producer and distributor of many American documentary shorts shown in public schools, mostly in the 16mm format, from the 1940s through the 1980s (when the videocasset ...

. After his retirement, Sheehan was an animation professor at

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

, where he taught and inspired notable animator

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich Tartakovsky (russian: Геннадий Борисович Тартаковский, born ), commonly known as Tartakovsky (), is a Russian-American animator, director, producer, screenwriter, voice actor, storyboard artist, ...

. Tartakovsky recalled, “my first nimationteacher was Gordon Sheehan, he was 90 years old. He was an old

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.otdo this for a living, cause he still drew, like, that old Fleischer style in circles, and he was amazing and very inspiring, and I realized I couldn’t not do it.” Sheehan received a lifetime achievement award from the International Animation Association (Midwest Chapter) and the Official Popeye Fan Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheehan, Gordon A. 1910 births 1996 deaths People from Mechanicville, New York Pratt Institute alumni Fleischer Studios people American people of Irish descent 20th-century American artists Animators from New York (state) American cartoonists Columbia College Chicago faculty