TV Animator Jim Duffy Dies at 75

Television animator Jim Duffy, who worked at Hanna Barbera and spent most of the last two decades supervising Nickelodeon's animated slate at Klasky Csupo, died Friday, March 23, after a long battle with cancer, according to a report by Daily Variety [1]. He was 75.

Duffy was born in the U.S., grew up in the U.K. and shuttled between London and Los Angeles during a career spent not only in animated TV series but also commercials and even National Coal Board safety films, working variously as a director, animator, producer, writer, tracer-painter, storyboard artist and designer.

He picked up three Daytime Emmys, three additional nominations plus several Primetime Emmy nominations for his Rugrats efforts. He also received two Primetime Emmy nominations for Nick show As Told by Ginger as well as Daytime Emmy nominations for Captain Planet and the Planeteers and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. These series were all produced at Klasky Csupo. Other shows on which he worked at the L.A. animation outfit include Rocket Power, Duckman and, most recently, All Grown Up.

Duffy began as an animator in the late 1970s at Hanna-Barbera, working on series including Smurfs, Super Friends and The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show. During the 1980s he worked on series including G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Duffy also worked on his own on shortform projects that screened at a variety of festivals including Oberhausen, Tours, Nyon, Lucca, Bilboa, Zagreb and Annecy.

His ex-wife, Cella Nichols Duffy, is a producer at Klasky Csupo. He is survived by their children: Barbara Duffy, an assistant director-editor, Vera Duffy, a writer-editor, and James Duffy, a designer-sculptor.

Services will be held Saturday, March 31, at 2:30 p.m. in the old brick church at Forest Lawn in Hollywood.