Cartoonist/Hazel Creator Ted Key Dies at 95

[Zoneboy]

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Cartoonist Ted Key, who came up with the Hazel character and Peabody and Sherman, and was a commercial success creating motivational posters, died at his home Saturday in Tredyffrin, Pa. He was 95.

Mr. Key's Hazel cartoon was a popular feature in the now defunct Saturday Evening Post when it was published at Philadelphia's Curtis Center. In 1961, Hazel got her own eponymous prime-time TV show, which ran four years on NBC and one year on CBS.

Mr. Key also created Peabody and Sherman, the time-traveling dog scientist and his boy, who have become staples of popular culture in the years since their debut on the animated TV show, "Rocky and His Friends," in 1959.

His most lucrative venture may have been the series of motivational posters that he and a neighbor, Milton Fox-Martin, created for the Economics Press Inc. Called "Positive Attitude Posters," they consisted of a sentence or two about how to behave and a cartoon by Mr. Key, often featuring children, humorously illustrating the copy. They were published bi-weekly for about 30 years.

Mr. Key also wrote four children's books, one of which was made into a movie, and sold the Walt Disney Co. three ideas that they made into movies in the 1970s. The last of those, "The Cat From Outer Space," he wrote the screenplay for and novelized.

Mr. Key was diagnosed with bladder cancer in late 2006 and suffered a stroke last September. He is survived by his second wife, Bonnie; his sons, Stephen of Providence, R.I., and David and Peter of Philadelphia; and three grandchildren. His first wife, Anne, passed away in 1984.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the American Cancer Society

[tv star collector]

R.I.P., Mr. Key.

[Ireneparalegal]

I loved Peabody and Sherman. I also enjoyed watching HAZEL.