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{{Short description|American animator (1933–2020)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
|birth_name = Joseph Clemens Ruby
|image = Joe Ruby animator.jpg
| caption = Ruby in 2010
|birth_date = {{birth date|1933|3|30}}
|birth_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2020|8|26|1933|3|30}}
|death_place = [[Westlake Village, California]], U.S.
|occupation = Animator, writer, television producer, music editor
|yearsactive = 1959–2002
|spouse = {{marriage|Carole Ruby|1957}}
|children = 4
}}
'''Joseph Clemens Ruby''' (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/joseph_clemens_ruby_born_1933_1634949|title=Joseph Clemens Ruby, Born 03/30/1933 in California | CaliforniaBirthIndex.org|website=www.californiabirthindex.org}}</ref> was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the animated ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' franchise, together with [[Ken Spears]]. In 1977, they co-founded the television animation production company [[Ruby-Spears|Ruby-Spears Productions]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/movies/13kirby.html|title=Jack Kirby's Heroes in Waiting|first=Dave|last=Itzkoff|work=The New York Times|date=April 12, 2010}}</ref> Ruby would work with Spears and would co-create several other shows including, ''[[Fangface]]'', ''[[Dynomutt, Dog Wonder]]'' and ''[[Jabberjaw]]'' among others.

Ruby would meet Spears in 1959 at [[Hanna-Barbera]], when the studio was being interviewed by Life Magazine<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=ScoobyAddicts.com |url=https://scoobyaddicts.com/ |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=ScoobyAddicts}}</ref> and the two would start working together on animated shows. Before Ruby founded Ruby-Spears he would work with at several studios including [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]], Hanna-Barbera, [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]] and with [[Sid and Marty Krofft]].

In 1996, the Ruby-Spears studio closed, and Ruby would keep working with Spears until his retirement in 2002.

Ruby died on August 26, 2020. Spears died three months later of natural causes. He was 87 years old.

== Biography ==
Ruby was born on March 30, 1933, in [[Los Angeles]], the son of Mildred (''née'' Fineberg) and Carl Ruby, a doctor. His family was Jewish, and his parents were Canadian.<ref>{{cite news|title=Joe Ruby Dies: 'Scooby Doo' Co-Creator Was 87|url=https://deadline.com/2020/08/scooby-doo-creator-joe-ruby-dead-1203025176/|first=Alexandra|last=Del Rosario|date=August 27, 2020|access-date=August 27, 2020|magazine=Deadline Hollywood}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/global/2020/sep/01/joe-ruby-obituary|title=Joe Ruby obituary | Anthony Hayward|date=September 1, 2020|website=the Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/culture/453486/how-scooby-doo-became-tvs-most-jewish-cartoon-dog/|title=How Scooby-Doo became TV's most Jewish cartoon dog|first=Warner|last=Bros|website=The Forward|date=August 28, 2020 }}</ref> He attended [[Fairfax High School (Los Angeles)|Fairfax High School]]. After graduating, he joined the [[United States Navy]] and worked as a sonar operator on a destroyer during the [[Korean War]].<ref name=Barnes>{{cite news|title=Joe Ruby, Co-Creator of Scooby-Doo, Dies at 87|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joe-ruby-co-creator-of-scooby-doo-dies-at-87|first=Mike|last=Barnes|date=August 27, 2020|access-date=August 27, 2020|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Scooby-Doo creator Joe Ruby dies, aged 87|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12360463|date=August 28, 2020|access-date=August 28, 2020|newspaper=The New Zealand Herald|location=Auckland}}</ref>

Ruby studied art and began his career in animation at [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]] in the [[traditional animation|inbetweening]] department. He began as a music editor, knowing it would take a long process to become an experienced animator, but nonetheless pursued his passion at the side as a freelance comic book artist and writer.<ref name=Barnes/> He later worked for a short time in live-action television editing before moving to [[Hanna-Barbera]], where he met [[Ken Spears]], when Life Magazine was interviewing members of the studio, Joe Barbera would introduce the two to the writers at Life Magazine,<ref name=":0" /> Spears was also ex-Navy.<ref name="STUEP1" /> The two men teamed up to become writers for several animated and live-action television programs, both freelance and as on-staff writers, starting at Hanna-Barbera in 1959,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scoobyaddicts.com/|title=ScoobyAddicts.com|website=ScoobyAddicts}}</ref> before leaving the studio due to a wish to become associate producers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqDi77RnNAQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/HqDi77RnNAQ| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Ruby & Spears : WonderCon 2012|website=[[YouTube]]|date=April 2, 2012 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> They also worked as writers for [[Sid and Marty Krofft]] Television Productions and [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]].<ref name="STUEP1" />

For Hanna-Barbera, Ruby and Spears created the ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' franchise and its main characters: [[Fred Jones (Scooby-Doo)|Fred Jones]], [[Daphne Blake]], [[Velma Dinkley]], [[Shaggy Rogers]], and [[Scooby-Doo|the eponymous title character]]. The original series, ''[[Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!]]'', debuted on [[CBS]] on September 13, 1969.<ref name="BBC20200828">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53944780|title=Scooby-Doo co-creator Joe Ruby dies aged 87|work=BBC News|date=28 August 2020|access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> After [[Fred Silverman]], then head of daytime programming at CBS, concluded that, after about 15 drafts, a [[Great Dane]] was the star of the project,<ref>{{cite news|last=Green|first=Penelope|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/arts/television/ken-spears-dead.html|title=Ken Spears, Partner in an Animation Powerhouse, Dies at 82|work=The New York Times|date=November 19, 2020|access-date=December 31, 2021}}</ref> Ruby and Spears tried multiple ideas before settling on a cowardly dog who solves mysteries.<ref name="BBC20200828"/> For H-B, they also created ''[[Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!]]'', ''[[Dynomutt, Dog Wonder]]'', ''[[Jabberjaw]]'', and ''[[Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels]]'', among other programs. At DePatie–Freleng, they created ''[[The Barkleys]]'' and ''[[The Houndcats]]''. In the early 1970s, Silverman hired Ruby and Spears to supervise the production of CBS's Saturday morning cartoon lineup, a position they assumed at [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] when Silverman defected to that network.<ref name="STUEP1">Shostak, Stu (February 5, 2012). "[https://www.stusshow.com/archives.php Interview with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears]". ''Stu's Show.'' Retrieved March 18, 2013.</ref>

Wanting to create competition for Hanna-Barbera, ABC set Ruby and Spears up with their own studio in 1977, as a subsidiary of [[Filmways]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsfromme.com/2020/08/27/joe-ruby-r-i-p/|title=News From ME - Mark Evanier's blog|website=www.newsfromme.com}}</ref><ref name="STUEP2" /> [[Ruby-Spears|Ruby-Spears Productions]] produced animated series for Saturday mornings, among them ''[[Fangface]]'', ''[[The Plastic Man Comedy-Adventure Hour]]'', ''[[Thundarr the Barbarian]]'', ''[[Saturday Supercade]]'', ''[[Mister T (TV series)|Mister T]]'', ''[[Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 TV series)|Alvin and the Chipmunks]]'', and ''[[Superman (TV series)|Superman]]'', among others.<ref name="STUEP2">Shostak, Stu (01-16-2013). "[https://www.stusshow.com/archives.php Tribute To Joseph Barbera". ''Stu's Show.'' Retrieved 05-9-2019.]</ref> Ruby-Spears was bought by Hanna-Barbera's parent company, [[Taft Broadcasting|Taft Entertainment]], in 1981, and its back catalog was sold along with the Hanna-Barbera library and studio in 1991 to [[Turner Broadcasting System|Turner Broadcasting]]. Current reissues of Ruby-Spears shows on DVD and digital platforms are therefore copyrighted by Hanna-Barbera Productions.<ref name="STUEP2" />

== Death ==
Ruby died of [[natural causes]] at his home in [[Westlake Village, California]], on August 26, 2020, at the age of 87.<ref name="Barnes" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/joe-ruby-dies-dead-scooby-doo-1234750948/|title=Scooby-Doo Co-Creator Joe Ruby Dies at 87|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=August 27, 2020|access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref> His widow, Carole, specified that he died of complications from a fall.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/joe-ruby-scooby-doo-dead/2020/08/30/273f4e8a-eacb-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html| title = 'Scooby-Doo' co-creator Joe Ruby dies at 87 - The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> [[Dan Haskett]] made a dedication poster for Ruby's contribution to ''Scooby-Doo'' five days after his death.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1300529607666479105|user=WB_Animation|title=Forever our pal, Joe Ruby.|date=August 31, 2020}}</ref> In November 2020, three months after Ruby passed, Ken Spears would die at the age of 82.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Penelope |date=2020-11-19 |title=Ken Spears, Partner in an Animation Powerhouse, Dies at 82 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/arts/television/ken-spears-dead.html |access-date=2024-07-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb name|0748445|Joe Ruby}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruby, Joe}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Animators from California]]
[[Category:American television writers]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:Television producers from California]]
[[Category:American animated film producers]]
[[Category:Hanna-Barbera people]]
[[Category:Military personnel from California]]
[[Category:Writers from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Ruby-Spears]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths from falls]]
[[Category:Music editors]]
[[Category:American Jews]]
[[Category:American character designers]]

Joe Ruby - Revision history

imported>Kjell Knudde: Added more categories.