Sidney E. Sutherland (August 7, 1901 – April 20, 1968) 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 ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and sound editor who is best known as the animator of many classic Warner Bros. cartoons.

Career

Sutherland's professional life was varied across the entertainment business, ranging from journalism, screenwriting, animation, sound recording, and sound editing. In the 1930s, Sutherland wrote magazine articles, including two for ''Liberty'' magazine entitled ''The Mystery of Sacco and Vanzetti''. In 1932, not long after the advent of talkies, Sutherland also broke into the movie business and began a career as a screenwriter at

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

on ''

The Match King ''The Match King'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code drama film made by First National Pictures, directed by William Keighley and Howard Bretherton. The film starred Warren William and Lili Damita, and follows the rise and fall of Swedish safety mat ...

'', starring

Warren William Warren William (born Warren William Krech; December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, immensely popular during the early 1930s; he was later nicknamed the "King of Pre-Code". He was the first actor to play Perry ...

and

Lili Damita Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937. Early life and education Lili Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Car ...

. Although he soon developed a second career as an animator, he continued working concurrently as a screenwriter over the next fourteen years, his last movie being '' Wife Wanted'' (1946). Sutherland first branched into animation in 1935 with ''At Your Service'' for the

Walter Lantz Studio Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios. The studio was originally formed as Universal Cartoon Studios on the initiative o ...

at Universal Pictures where he worked with

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

Virgil Ross Virgil Walter Ross (August 8, 1907 – May 15, 1996) was an American artist, cartoonist, and animator best known for his work on the Warner Bros. animated shorts including the shorts of legendary animator Friz Freleng. Biography Early yea ...

, and

Cecil Surry Cecil Hays Surry (April 19, 1907 – September 19, 1956) was a cartoonist at various film studios in the Golden Age of Animation. Biography Surry was born to Bert F. and Lydia or Lida B. (Knoblock) Surry in Chelan, Washington, where his father and ...

. When Avery left Lantz later that year to direct animated shorts for

Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant r ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, Avery offered Sutherland, Ross, and Surry the opportunity to join his new unit if they were looking to leave Universal. Lantz was not happy about the departures and told them that they would not be welcome back at his company. At Warner Bros. the four men, along with

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

, Robert Cannon, and Elmer Wait who were already employed by Schlesinger, moved into their own shabby workspace, a separate run-down building on the lot which became known at Termite Terrace. Away from the watchful eye of Schlesinger who, with the rest of his employees, remained in the building on the north end of the lot near Sunset Boulevard, Sutherland joined Tex and his unit where they all worked day and night, filled with ambition and enthusiasm. Subsequently, Sutherland became animator on dozens of ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' and ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoons until 1942. Starting in 1943 during a changing market caused by World War II, Sutherland decided to take advantage of opportunities to work in the relatively new medium of television and made a career change to a more secure living as a sound supervisor and sound editor. He worked steadily in the sound department on dozens of television episodes over the next 24 years, including work on ''

The Cisco Kid The Cisco Kid is a fictional character found in numerous film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way", published in ''Everybody's Magaz ...

, Highway Patrol, Bat Masterson'', and ''Sea Hunt''. Just prior to his retirement in 1966, Sutherland was a sound editor on the motion picture comedy, ''

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! ''The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'' is a 1966 American comedy film directed and produced by Norman Jewison for the United Artists. It is based on the 1961 Nathaniel Benchley novel ''The Off-Islanders'', and was adapted for the s ...

'', starring Carl Reiner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Sid American animators American screenwriters Warner Bros. Cartoons people Walter Lantz American sound editors 1901 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American screenwriters