Painter, printmaker, and animator Earl Klein was born March 6, 1916, in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied at Cleveland School of Art, Chicago Art Institute, and the Meinzinger Academy of Detroit. His professional career began in 1936 with Jam Handy Organization in Detroit as an assistant animator, and in 1938 he relocated to Miami to join Max Fleisher’s Studio as a designer, working on the “Gulliver’s Travels” feature film and “Pop-Eye” theatrical shorts. 

Klein moved to California in 1940 and studied at the Chouinard Art Institute under Pruett Carter. He was soon hired by Warner Bros. as a designer on “Bugs Bunny” shorts and Armed Forces’ training films such as “Snafu”. From 1949 to 1953 he served as art director of Raphael G. Wolff Studios, resigning to become a freelance TV designer. He contracted with United Productions of America, Academy Productions and John Sutherland Productions, and on May 1st, 1955, Klein formed Animation Inc., wanting to strike out on his own. He would continue to work on his own artwork when he found the time, exploring various techniques in watercolor and printmaking.

Earl married fellow animator Ann Marie and together they had four children. He continued to work, including in Mexico as a professor of art in San Miguel de Allende at the Instituto Allende, until his death in 1993. 

Memberships: CA Watercolor Society; Laguna Beach Artists' Association; Orange County AA; Anaheim AA.