Julius Caesar Bass (/bæs/; September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer and author.[2][3][4] Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency,[5] and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft International, later named Rankin/Bass Productions, with his friend, Arthur Rankin Jr. He joined ASCAP in 1963 and collaborated with Edward Thomas and James Polack at their music firm and as a songwriting team primarily with Maury Laws at Rankin/Bass.
Early life
Bass was born in Philadelphia on September 16, 1935.[6][1] During his teenage years, he caught scarlet fever and nearly died from the disease. He attended New York University before being employed by an advertising agency.[1][7]
Career
Bass started working with Arthur Rankin Jr. at the American Broadcasting Company[8] in 1955. Rankin was an art director and Bass was a copywriter. The pair initially made television commercials, before moving onto television series and movies when they established Videocraft International in 1960.[1] They released their first syndicated television series, The New Adventures of Pinocchio[9] the same year, animated in stop-motion.[1][8] In 1961, Videocraft produced a cel-animated series called Tales of The Wizard of Oz, which was expanded into their first prime-time network special, Return to Oz, on NBC in 1963.
Bass wrote the lyrics for many of the films he directed, collaborating with composer Maury Laws. This began with his first solo directing project, the live-action/stop-motion feature The Daydreamer (1966).[18] Bass also wrote for some of the company's specials and series under the pseudonym "Julian P. Gardner" (a moniker Rankin also sometimes used; it combined "Jules" with the name of one of Rankin's sons), some of which include The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow,[19]The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus,[20] and the Emmy Award nominated The Little Drummer Boy, Book II.[21][22] With Laws, he wrote songs performed by Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye, Mickey Rooney,[1]Ed Wynn, Patty Duke, Ray Bolger,[23]Shirley Booth,[24]John Huston,[25]Roddy McDowall, Danny Thomas,[26]José Ferrer,[27]Vincent Price,[1]Phyllis Diller, Boris Karloff,[28] and the Vienna Boys' Choir.[29] Bass also adapted the verse of J. R. R. Tolkien, approved by the Tolkien estate, into musicalized lyrics for the first completed film adaptation of The Hobbit, in 1977. The animated feature, produced for NBC, was awarded the Peabody Award.[1]
Bass stopped directing and producing films in 1987. He later authored a series of children's books, based around the character of Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon[30] and Cooking with Herb.[31] He also wrote fiction for adults including Headhunters, which was adapted into the 2011 Selena Gomez feature, Monte Carlo.[1]
Personal life
His first marriage was to Renee Fisherman.[1] Together, they had one daughter, Jean Nicole, who predeceased Bass in January 2022.[1][7] They eventually divorced. His second marriage, to Sylvia Bass, also ended in divorce.[1]
