Chennai: Oscar-winning illustrator and animator, Gene Deitch, has passed away at the age of 95, according to media reports.
Deitch, one the directors behind one of world’s most popular cartoons, Tom and Jerry, died in his apartment in Prague, his Czech publisher, Petr Himmel, told The Associated Press
Born on 8 August in 1924, in Chicago, Deitch, whose full name was Eugene Merrill Deitch, was known for directing some of the most popular animator cartoons, including Popeye the Sailor Man, Munro, Tom Terrific and Nudnik.
He had directed 13 episodes of Tom and Jerry and multiple episodes of the Popeye the Sailor series.
Meanwhile, tributes have poured in on Twitter from those who grew up watching the iconic cartoon shows. The general sentiment on Twitter was: “We love you for making this cartoon,’ read a tweet while another added: “Thank you for making our childhood awesome”. Another user tweeted: “Thank you for giving us such memorable cartoons which can’t be erased so easily from our hearts.”