Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Michael Maltese(1908-1981)

  • Writer
  • Actor
  • Animation Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
During the heyday of cartoon slapstick in Hollywood, one basic tenet held precedence: namely, that an inseparable connection existed between perennial antagonists like Tom and Jerry, Sylvester and Tweetie, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam (or Elmer Fudd). In other words, one could not work without the other. Few people understood that better than Michael Maltese, one of the unsung heroes of animation, and, arguably, the best cartoon writer to emerge from this period. The son of Italian immigrant parents, Maltese learned his craft at the National Academy of Design in New York and began his career in animation in 1935, working on Betty Boop cartoons for Max Fleischer as an opaquer (colouring animation cels) and assistant animator. After two years, he moved to the West Coast and hooked up with Leon Schlesinger's studio at Warner Brothers (following his wife who had been hired as an 'in-betweener' for $20 a week). By August 1939, he had become an integral member of the story department. Maltese was briefly associated with Friz Freleng's unit but ended up spending the better part of his tenure at Warners (1946-58) as the indispensable gag man and storyboard artist for Chuck Jones.

Maltese had a zany sense of humour and was the wit behind many innovative Looney Tunes in-jokes and gags (especially those involving the Acme company !). As a character designer, he and Jones created Pepe Le Pew as a composite of French-born Hollywood star Charles Boyer (the archetypal romantic lover) and fellow animator Tedd Pierce (the skunk -- Pierce, an avid party animal, had a reputation for turning up at work unwashed and hung-over). Another Maltese-Jones creation, Yosemite Sam (whose 'real' cartoon name was -- amazingly -- Samuel Michelangelo Rosenbaum), was designed as the alter-ego of Friz Freleng, a guy notorious for his volatile temper and short fuse. Maltese was similarly instrumental in the evolution of the Road Runner/Coyote cartoons, having devised the concept of the 'ultimate chase' inaugurated by the episode Fast and Furry-ous (1949). Maltese derived the Road Runner's famous sound from layout artist Paul Julian, who had a habit of shouting 'beep-beep' to get people to scurry out of his way while carrying large paintings through the halls and passages of 'Termite Terrace'. For One Froggy Evening (1955), Maltese co-created the top-hatted vaudevillian Michigan J. Frog, a character for whom he also wrote an original piece of music, 'The Michigan Rag'.

In 1958, Maltese departed Warner Brothers (for reasons unknown) to work for newcomers Hanna-Barbera. As head of their story department, he was charged with writing a half-hour episode each week, helping in the development and success of Quick Draw McGraw (1959) (he originated the catchphrase "Exit, stage right" -- or left -- voiced by Snagglepuss), Snagglepuss (1961) and The Flintstones (1960).

Beginning in the 1940's, Maltese frequently sidelined as author of comic book stories for Sangor, Dell (Daffy Duck cartoons) and Western Publishing (often featuring Bugs Bunny, Road Runner/Coyote or Pink Panther). In addition to providing his voice to several Looney Tunes creations, he also appeared as a real-life security guard in You Ought to Be in Pictures (1940), chasing an animated Porky Pig around the studio lot. Maltese never won an Oscar, though he would have made a most deserving recipient. Three years after his retirement in 1973, he was finally honoured with a Winsor McKay Award for lifetime achievement in animation. Warner Brothers paid him a little homage with a Sylvester & Tweetie cartoon, The Maltese Canary (1995) (a send-up of the classic 'Maltese Falcon') in which a store is named 'Mike Maltese's canaries'.
BornFebruary 6, 1908
DiedFebruary 22, 1981(73)
BornFebruary 6, 1908
DiedFebruary 22, 1981(73)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Awards
    • 1 win & 2 nominations

Known for:

Alan Cumming, Bob Hoskins, Traylor Howard, Jamie Kennedy, Bear, Liam Falconer, and Ryan Falconer in Son of the Mask (2005)
Son of the Mask
2.2
  • Soundtrack("The Michigan Rag")
  • 2005
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953)
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
8.1
Short
  • Writer
  • 1953
A Feather in His Hare (1948)
A Feather in His Hare
6.9
Short
  • Writer
  • 1948
Rabbit of Seville (1950)
Rabbit of Seville
8.3
Short
  • Writer
  • 1950

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Writer

  • The Woody Woodpecker Show
    • story
    • Released
    • TV Series
    • 1940–1972
  • The Goldmining Robber
    • original story
    • Short
    • 2019
  • The Drew Bromley Show
    • original story
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • Bird Gone Wild: The Woody Woodpecker Story (2018)
    Bird Gone Wild: The Woody Woodpecker Story
    • stories
    • Short
    • 2018
  • AzUrArInG's YouTube Poops
    • original story
    • TV Series
    • 2018
  • Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 (2014)
    Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3
    • writer
    • TV Series
    • 2014
  • Tom and Jerry's Magical Misadventures (2013)
    Tom and Jerry's Magical Misadventures
    • story: segment
    • Video
    • 2013
  • Mel Blanc and Billy West in Daffy's Rhapsody (2012)
    Daffy's Rhapsody
    • song (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 2012
  • Great Performances (1971)
    Great Performances
    • stories
    • TV Series
    • 2000
  • Marvin the Martian & K9: 50 Years on Earth
    • stories
    • Video
    • 1998
  • Marvin the Martian: Space Tunes (1998)
    Marvin the Martian: Space Tunes
    • stories
    • Video
    • 1998
  • Jeff McCarthy in Another Froggy Evening (1995)
    Another Froggy Evening
    • song (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1995
  • The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (1986)
    The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show
    • Writer
    • TV Series
    • 1986–1992
  • Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes (1991)
    Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes
    • stories: classic cartoons
    • TV Short
    • 1991
  • Mel Blanc, Arthur Q. Bryan, and Paul Julian in The Looney Tunes Hall of Fame (1991)
    The Looney Tunes Hall of Fame
    • stories
    • 1991
  • Chuck Amuck: The Movie (1991)
    Chuck Amuck: The Movie
    • stories
    • 1991

Actor

  • Cartoon Classics - Vol. 3: 25 Favorite Cartoons - 3 Hours (2019)
    Cartoon Classics - Vol. 3: 25 Favorite Cartoons - 3 Hours
    • Fat Castaway (voice)
    • 2019
  • Past Perfumance (1955)
    Past Perfumance
    • Various (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1955
  • Little Beau Pepé (1952)
    Little Beau Pepé
    • Foreign Legion Singer (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1952
  • A Hound for Trouble (1951)
    A Hound for Trouble
    • Customer (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1951
  • A Feather in His Hare (1948)
    A Feather in His Hare
    • Indian (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1948
  • A Hare Grows in Manhattan (1947)
    A Hare Grows in Manhattan
    • Dog (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1947
  • Rumors (1943)
    Rumors
    • Soldier (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1943
  • Wackiki Wabbit (1943)
    Wackiki Wabbit
    • Fat Castaway (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1943
  • The Aristo-Cat (1943)
    The Aristo-Cat
    • Hubie (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1943
  • The Fifth-Column Mouse (1943)
    The Fifth-Column Mouse
    • Various (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1943
  • Tortoise Wins by a Hare (1943)
    Tortoise Wins by a Hare
    • Various Rabbit Thugs (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1943
  • The Ducktators (1942)
    The Ducktators
    • Mussolini Duck (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1942
  • We, the Animals - Squeak! (1941)
    We, the Animals - Squeak!
    • Leader Mouse (voice, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1941
  • You Ought to Be in Pictures (1940)
    You Ought to Be in Pictures
    • Studio Guard (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1940

Animation Department

  • Mouse Wreckers (1948)
    Mouse Wreckers
    • story artist (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1948
  • Naughty But Mice (1939)
    Naughty But Mice
    • inbetween artist (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1939
  • Mel Blanc and Sara Berner in Love and Curses (1938)
    Love and Curses
    • inbetween artist (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1938

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Mike Maltese
  • Born
    • February 6, 1908
    • New York, USA
  • Died
    • February 22, 1981
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(cancer)
  • Spouse
    • Florence SassMay 30, 1936 - February 22, 1981 (his death, 1 child)
  • Other works
    Recorded audio commentary (comprised of archive footage) for the DVD release of What's Opera, Doc? (1957) (with Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble) on "Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Vol. 2".

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Warren Foster served as Best Man at Maltese's wedding.

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Production art
List
The Best Things to Watch in June
See the list
Production art
Photos
See These Trending Actors in Early Roles
Can you place the face?

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

Demo reel thumbnail
Make your IMDb page stand out by adding a demo reel
Upload your demo reel

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

Make your IMDb page stand out by adding a demo reel
Upload your demo reel
Demo reel thumbnail

How much have you seen?

Keep track of how much of Michael Maltese’s work you have seen. Go to your list.
Production art
Photos
LGBTQIA+ Power Couples of Hollywood
See the photos

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.