Jack Carr (animator)

Jack Carr was born Frank Carr on May 17, 1906, in Bayonne, New Jersey to James and Bridgett O'Donnell Carr, Irish immigrants. He was one of eight children.^[1] Starting as a cartoonist in The New York Globe, he started work at the Pat Sullivan studio in 1924, working for the Felix the Cat cartoons.^[2]

Carr worked for a number of animation studios and was a credited animator since at least the early 1930s. When, in 1930, Charles Mintz found a cartoon distributor in Columbia Pictures and moved his operations to California, Mr. Carr was amongst his staff;^[3] whilst working at the Warner Bros. studio of Leon Schlesinger, he provided the voice of Buddy from 1933 to 1934: he is also a credited animator on one Buddy short, Buddy in Africa. Carr is also credited with naming the cartoon characters Tom and Jerry when Hanna-Barbera had a naming contest amongst the staff; Carr won the $25 prize.^[4] Hanna and Barbera were said to be unhappy to have their characters named after a popular drink of the time, but history later proved that names having dual associations are the most popular as they are easier for the public to remember. He also, coincidentally, worked on two Tom and Jerry shorts during the CinemaScope period.

Carr acted as an extra, often uncredited, in nearly 100 films and television episodes from 1933 through 1963.

Carr's work may be found in the collection of the National Gallery of Art^[5] as part of the Index of American Design.