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Light a Candle
Donald Lee Jurwich, beloved husband, father and grandfather, producer/director/writer, died peacefully at his home on July 13th, 2021, from natural causes. He is survived by his wife, Edna, his son, Stephen, his daughter, Jennifer, his son-in-law Paul and his grandson, Kyle. Don was born on January 1st, 1934 in Los Angeles, California; the only child of Chester and Ruth Jurwich. Don started his career in animation as a layout and background artist, worked his way up to storyboarding and eventually became a producer/director. Over the course of his 40-year career, he worked for various studios including Hanna-Barbera and Marvel Productions, and contributed to classics such as the Road Runner, The Pink Panther, Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Flintstones, George of the Jungle, Yogi Bear, Tom & Jerry (along with their mini-me successor, the Tom & Jerry Kids Show). He produced the Emmy Nominated Saturday morning series, “The Smurfs,” along with “The Smurf Christmas Special,” and he worked on the cult classic, Heavy Metal. At Hanna-Barbera, he produced and directed Scooby Doo, The Superfriends, Captain Caveman, Richie Rich, Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, along with a one hour prime-time special, “Scooby Goes to Hollywood.” At Marvel, he produced “Spiderman and His Amazing Friends,” and a one-hour series, “The Incredible Hulk and the Amazing Spiderman.” He also produced and directed 85 half-hour episodes of GI Joe, along with the miniseries, “GI Joe: The Movie,” which was later released as a feature film. As a director, he had the opportunity to work with such greats as Tex Avery, Mel Blanc, Don Messick (Scooby Doo), Casey Kasem and Ringo Starr. His career in animation afforded him the opportunity to live and work in foreign contries such as Mexico, Japan, Korea and Canada. He also worked as an art consultant for the UCLA Spanish department and taught classes in Storyboarding at Art Center College of Design. While he made his living working in cartoons, his passion was fine art, and when he retired he was able to dedicate himself to drawing and painting full-time, culminating in 2 successful art shows at the Animation Guild in Burbank, California, and a large body of work. Don loved watching football, going to the movies (he was a proud member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for decades), traveling, and spending time with his family. His greatest joy in recent years has been his grandson, Kyle, who, spent many hours on "Grandpa’s" lap learning how to draw when he was little (he is 14 now), and who also frequently beat him at chess. He was a kind and generous man and he will be greatly missed by many.
