Michael Maltese

Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American storyman for classic animated cartoon shorts. 2Biography The son of Italian immigrants, Maltese graduated from the National Academy of Design. He married Florence Sass on May 30, 1936; animator Warren Foster served as Best Man. The couple moved to Los Angeles, where their first and only child, Brenda, was born on February 20, 1938. 2Career In 1941, Maltese was hired by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which three years later became Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. (Maltese had actually appeared on camera in the 1940 Porky Pig cartoon You Ought to Be in Pictures as a live-action guard at the Warner Bros. entrance gate, who winds up chasing the animated Porky around the Warners lot). The first cartoon he wrote for Warners was The Haunted Mouse (1941) by Tex Avery (credited as Fred Avery). He first worked mainly for Friz Freleng until 1948, but after that he worked mostly for Chuck Jones, contributing stories to other directors at times, including Robert McKimso