Ben Hardaway

Biography

Joseph Benson 'Ben' (a.k.a. 'Bugs') Hardaway (May 21, 1895 – February 5, 1957) was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. While at the Leon Schlesinger / Warner Bros. studio during the late 1930s, Hardaway, in 1938, co-directed Porky's Hare Hunt, the first film to feature a rabbit. When this unnamed, embryonic rabbit was given a new model sheet for a later short, since, according to Chuck Jones, Hardaway "didn't draw it very well", designer Charlie Thorson inadvertently offered a permanent name by titling the model sheet "Bugs' Bunny" since it was meant for Hardaway's unit. By the time the rabbit was redesigned and refined for the film A Wild Hare, the name was already being used in relation to the character in studio publicity materials. In 1940, Hardaway joined the staff of Walter Lantz Productions, where he helped Walter Lantz in creating the studio's most famous character, Woody Woodpecker. Hardaway wrote or co-wrote most of the stories for the 1940–1950 Woody Woodpecker shorts, as well as supplying Woody's voice between 1944 and 1949. [biography (e…

Movies & TV Shows

1. The Barber of Seville (1944) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
2. Pantry Panic (1941) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
3. Woody Woodpecker and Friends (1982) — Various Voices
4. Wild and Woody! (1948) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
5. Ace in the Hole (1942) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
6. Chew-Chew Baby (1945) — Woody Woodpecker (voice) (uncredited)
7. The Hollywood Matador (1942) — Woody Woodpecker
8. Woody Dines Out (1945) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
9. Ski for Two (1944) — Woody Woodpecker
10. The Reckless Driver (1946) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
11. Fair Weather Fiends (1946) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
12. Wet Blanket Policy (1948) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
13. The Beach Nut (1944) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
14. Woody the Giant Killer (1947) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
15. Smoked Hams (1947) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
16. The Dippy Diplomat (1945) — Woody Woodpecker (voice)
17. Who's Cookin Who? (1946) — Woody Woodpecker / Starvation (voice)
18. The Loose Nut (1945) — Woody Woodpecker / Bull Dozer (voice)
19. It's an Ill Wind (1939) — Dizzy Duck
20. Wacky-Bye Baby (1948) — Woody Woodpecker (voice) (uncredited)
21. The Coo Coo Bird (1947) — Woody Woodpecker (voice) (uncredited)

Directed

1. Porky's Hare Hunt (1938) — Director
2. Hare-um Scare-um (1939) — Director
3. Porky and Teabiscuit (1939) — Director
4. Buddy of the Legion (1935) — Director
5. Bars And Stripes Forever (1939) — Director
6. Buddy of the Apes (1934) — Director
7. Buddy's Theatre (1935) — Director
8. Gold Rush Daze (1939) — Director
9. Porky the Giant Killer (1939) — Director
10. Buddy in Africa (1935) — Director
11. Count Me Out (1938) — Director
12. Rhythm in the Bow (1934) — Director
13. Buddy's Adventures (1934) — Director
14. Buddy the Dentist (1934) — Director
15. Busy Bakers (1940) — Director
16. Buddy's Pony Express (1935) — Director
17. It's an Ill Wind (1939) — Director
18. Porky the Gob (1938) — Director
19. Love and Curses (1938) — Director
20. Hobo Gadget Band (1939) — Director
21. Fagin's Freshman (1939) — Director
22. Sioux Me (1939) — Director
23. The Egg Cracker Suite (1943) — Director
24. Breakdowns of 1939 (1939) — Director