Frederick Clinton Quimby was the head producer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's cartoon studio from its establishment up until his retirement in 1955. He won seven Academy Awards as a result of producing the Tom and Jerry cartoon series.
History[]
Quimby was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and started his career as a journalist. In 1907, he managed a film theater in Missoula, Montana. Later, he worked at Pathé, and became a member of the board of directors before leaving in 1922 to become an independent producer. He was hired by Fox in 1924, and moved to MGM in 1927 to head its short features department.
In 1937, Quimby was assigned to establish an in-house animation department for MGM. In 1939, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera presented Quimby with a proposal for a series of cartoons featuring a cat and a mouse. Although he had no interest in the idea, Quimby approved, and the result was Puss Gets the Boot, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He initially refused to produce more cat-and-mouse cartoons, but he changed his mind following the success of Puss Gets the Boot.
Quimby retired from MGM in May 1955, after the production of Good Will to Men. Hanna and Barbera assumed his role as co-heads of the studio and took over the production title for the rest of the MGM cartoon shorts.