Tee Collins
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| Tee Collins | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elmore Theodore Collins September 12, 1923 New Bern, North Carolina, U.S. |
| 💀Died | November 24, 2000 (aged 77) Orlando, Florida, U.S.November 24, 2000 (aged 77) |
| 🏫 Education | Long Island University School of Visual Arts |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 📆 Years active | 1955-2000 |
| Known for | Creating segments for Sesame Street |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Doris E. Collins |
Elmore Theodore “Tee” Collins (September 12, 1923 - November 24, 2000) was an American independent animator, graphic designer and professional basketball player. He is notable for having been the first African-American animator to establish their own animation studio.
After a short career as a professional basketball player with the Washington Bears, Collins attended the Cooper Union to study graphic arts, having taken an interest in art and design from a young age. He would then join the New York branch of the United Productions of America, animating commercials for a variety of brands, most famously a spot for Piels Beer directed by Gene Deitch.[1]
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Collins was born in New Bern, North Carolina on September 12, 1923, to a Pullman porter father and a stay-at-home mother. At a young age, he moved to Harlem, New York City, where he would frequently draw in the dirt with a stick outside of the family apartment. Despite his family not being artists by trade, he developed an enthusiastic passion for art as a child.[2] He would later recall that “growing up in Harlem... I wanted to break the mold.”[3] He would spend summers on his grandparents’ farm in New Bern.
Education[edit]
Collins would first attend the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan. However, as he engaged more with his athletic talents, he would transfer to Harlem’s Benjamin Franklin High School to nurture his basketball skills.[3] He would then attend Long Island University on a basketball scholarship, achieving a bachelor’s degree in accounting.[2]
Career[edit]
Tee Collins... He knows what changes a black cat must go thru just to get an opportunity to gain a little technical know-how - so he has become incorporated to do his own thing.
Indianapolis Recorder, 11 April 1970 [4]
Collins joined UPA in New York shortly after graduation.
At one point, he was employed by McCann-Erickson in Puerto Rico, creating campaigns for brands like Coca-Cola and Bacardi.[5]
Legacy[edit]
Collins is widely remembered in the areas of graphic design and animation by figures such as
His studio also nourished and built the skills of other African-American animators like Jim Simon, who would go on to establish Wantu Studios, which would also provide animation for Sesame Street as well as The Electric Company.[6] Howard Beckerman, writing for Filmmakers Newsletter, noted that an animator like Collins having such status was unusual; “those Black artists that did manage to get into the [animation] field rarely moved up to key positions. Tee Collins and Wardel Gaynor are the only names I can think of.”[7]
A retrospective archive of his work and memorabilia was presented to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at a ceremony in 2012. It includes personal artefacts, such as resumes and his teaching material, as well as most of his commercial work.[8]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Remembering Tee Collins, Animation Pioneer". Animation Obsessive. Retrieved 2021-04-13. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Johnson, Pamela (2000-11-24). "'Tee' Collins Taught, Created Sesame Street Animations". Orlando Sentinel. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://williemoore.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/1e138b7a0e94aff5eaf03673afc5dac3.pdf
- ↑ "Sesame Street: The Collins Animation-Designer". 1970-04-11. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1578&context=ucfreport
- ↑ "Jim Simon bio from 1975". Retrieved 2021-04-14. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Filmmakers Newsletter 1976-01: Vol 9 Iss 3. Internet Archive. Filmmakers Newsletter Inactive Address. 1976-01-XX. Check date values in:
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- ↑ "Tee Collins collection, 1955-2001". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2021-04-14. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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