Waldman was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from the Pratt Institute where he majored in Art. He started his career in 1930 at the Fleischer Studios, first as an inker/opaquer, then as Head Animator. At Fleischer he worked on Betty Boop, Raggedy Ann, Gulliver's Travels, the classic animated Superman cartoons and Popeye films. He served as Head Animator on two Academy Award nominated shorts, Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky and Spunky (1939).
Director/Animator
April 23, 1908 - February 4, 2006
In 1942 after serving three years in the U.S. Army, Waldman spent the next decade at Paramount's Famous Studios. At Famous he worked mostly on their most popular series, Casper the Friendly Ghost. In 1958 he left Famous to become an Animation Director at Hal Seeger Productions where he worked on a revival of the Out of the Inkwell series, starring Betty Boop and Koko the Clown, as well as Milton the Monster, until his retirement in 1968.
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In addition to his work in animation, Waldman partnered with writer Steve Carlin in 1940 to produce the Happy the Humbug comic strip. He also created one of the first graphic novels, Eve: A Pictorial Love Story(1943). He has lectured on animation at Columbia University and at the New School in NY, and made many television appearances.
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In 1986 Waldman received the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Award and in 1997 was given the Winsor McCay Award for his lifetime achievement in the field of animation - the highest award an animator can receive. Waldman died of heart failure at the age of 97 in 2006, an active and vital artist to the end. His unique style and creativity have influenced generations of animators and will continue to do so.