Screenwriter Millard Kaufman Dies

From Imdb.com.

Mr. Magoo Co-creator Dies
17 March 2009 5:15 AM, PDT

The Oscar-nominated screenwriter who co-created the cartoon character Mr. Magoo has passed away.

Millard Kaufman was 92 when he died of heart failure on Saturday in Los Angeles.

Kaufman first conceived the short-sighted, clumsy Mr. Magoo with animator John Hubley for their 1949 theatrical short Ragtime Bear.

That film was a box office success, and the co-creators subsequently handed over the series to director Pete Burness, who won two Oscars with the 1955 film When Magoo Flew and 1956's Magoo's Puddle Jumper.

Kaufman later went on to write the World War II boot camp drama Take The High Ground, which earned him a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nomination in 1954; his second Oscar nod came for his Western film Bad Day At Black Rock two years later.

He also tried his hand at penning novels, publishing his first effort Bowl Of Cherries in 2007. His second novel Misadventure will be released posthumously this autumn.

Kaufman is survived by Lorraine, his wife of 66 years, two daughters, a son and seven grandchildren.