Clopton was the fourth child of Benjamin Ashby and Hannah Olivia (Eklund) Clopton.[1] His parents married in 1897 in the Gallatin Valley of Montana and settled between Deep Creek and Grayson, near Townsend, Montana, in 1910, where the family owned a ranch and raised dryland wheat.[2] He attended the University of Missoula in the mid-1920s.
Clopton left for California in January 1927 for what was supposed to be a few months[3] Instead, he was hired by Walt Disney in February and began working under animator Ub Iwerks as an in-betweener.[4] His first cartoon was the Alice Comedy, Alice's Three Bad Eggs. Clopton assisted Iwerks in drawing the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy, in late April, 1927, but left the Disney studio in the middle of May to join Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising, who had been hired from Disney to make cartoons for Charles Mintz under contract with Universal Studios.[5] Clopton directed six Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons in 1928-1929.[6]
Mintz lost distributorship of the Oswald cartoons in 1929. Harman and Ising then formed their own studio and signed a deal with Leon Schlesinger in 1930 to create the Looney Tunes series. Clopton took a job with Iwerks' studio[7] until 1933, when Scheslinger refused to renew Harman and Ising's contract, started his own studio, and hired staff. Clopton was among the animators and his first film credit is on Buddy the Gob, released January 13, 1934. Clopton is credited on sixteen cartoons through 1936, when he left for the Walter Lantz studio. Clopton's name is on three cartoons released in 1937. His name appears for a final time on screen as an animator on Gulliver's Travels, released in 1939 by the Fleischer Studios.
Clopton returned to California and worked at Disney with his brother John before they were inducted into the U.S. Army in April, 1942.[8] He was divorced in 1945 by his wife Sylvia Lamarr, stand-in for Hedy Lamarr and Joan Crawford. A wire service report made no mention of his animation career, instead stating he was a rancher. She testified at her divorce trial "He kept a loaded rifle around the house. He used to shoot holes in the ceiling. It made me very nervous".[9]
He was living in Santa Monica, California, at the time of his mother's death in 1966 but re-settled back home in Townsend, Montana, where he died in 1987.
^Associated Press story, datelined Los Angeles, August 3, 1945
January 01, 1970
clopton, benjamin, ashby, clopton, july, 1906, november, 1987, american, artist, best, known, work, walt, disney, harman, ising, animated, cartoons, clopton, fourth, child, benjamin, ashby, hannah, olivia, eklund, clopton, parents, married, 1897, gallatin, val. Benjamin Ashby Clopton Jr July 27 1906 November 19 1987 was an American artist best known for his work on Walt Disney and Harman Ising animated cartoons Clopton was the fourth child of Benjamin Ashby and Hannah Olivia Eklund Clopton 1 His parents married in 1897 in the Gallatin Valley of Montana and settled between Deep Creek and Grayson near Townsend Montana in 1910 where the family owned a ranch and raised dryland wheat 2 He attended the University of Missoula in the mid 1920s Clopton left for California in January 1927 for what was supposed to be a few months 3 Instead he was hired by Walt Disney in February and began working under animator Ub Iwerks as an in betweener 4 His first cartoon was the Alice Comedy Alice s Three Bad Eggs Clopton assisted Iwerks in drawing the first Mickey Mouse cartoon Plane Crazy in late April 1927 but left the Disney studio in the middle of May to join Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising who had been hired from Disney to make cartoons for Charles Mintz under contract with Universal Studios 5 Clopton directed six Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons in 1928 1929 6 Mintz lost distributorship of the Oswald cartoons in 1929 Harman and Ising then formed their own studio and signed a deal with Leon Schlesinger in 1930 to create the Looney Tunes series Clopton took a job with Iwerks studio 7 until 1933 when Scheslinger refused to renew Harman and Ising s contract started his own studio and hired staff Clopton was among the animators and his first film credit is on Buddy the Gob released January 13 1934 Clopton is credited on sixteen cartoons through 1936 when he left for the Walter Lantz studio Clopton s name is on three cartoons released in 1937 His name appears for a final time on screen as an animator on Gulliver s Travels released in 1939 by the Fleischer Studios Clopton returned to California and worked at Disney with his brother John before they were inducted into the U S Army in April 1942 8 He was divorced in 1945 by his wife Sylvia Lamarr stand in for Hedy Lamarr and Joan Crawford A wire service report made no mention of his animation career instead stating he was a rancher She testified at her divorce trial He kept a loaded rifle around the house He used to shoot holes in the ceiling It made me very nervous 9 He was living in Santa Monica California at the time of his mother s death in 1966 but re settled back home in Townsend Montana where he died in 1987 References edit U S Government census 1920 Helena Independent April 15 1942 and April 24 1966 Helena Independent January 5 1927 Hollywood Cartoons American Animation in its Golden Age Michael Barrier 1999 ISBN 0 19 503759 6 The Animated Man A Life of Walt Disney Michael Barrier 2008 Ben Clopton IMDb Hollywood Cartoons Barrier Helena Independent April 15 1942 Associated Press story datelined Los Angeles August 3 1945 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ben Clopton amp oldid 1220359610, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
