Edward Stacey "Ted/Tedd" Pierce III (12 August 1906 - 19 February 1972) was an American writer, animator, voice actor, and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at Fleischer Studios from 1939 to 1942. Jones credited Pierce in his 1989 autobiography Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist as being the inspiration for the character Pepé Le Pew, the haplessly romantic French skunk due to Pierce's self-proclamation that he was a ladies' man.
In early credits he was shown as "Ted Pierce." He was said to have added an extra "d" to his name as a way of "lampooning" puppeteer Bil Baird when he dropped one of the "L"s from his first name.
He contributed (with Bill Danch) the story of the 1962 Tom and Jerry cartoon "Tall in the Trap", directed by Gene Deitch. Originally, the cartoon would have starred Sylvester and Speedy Gonzales, and would have been directed by Robert McKimson. However, McKimson disapproved of the storyline, and decided not to use it. Instead, Pierce sold it to Danch and Deitch, who were desperately looking for suitable storylines for Tom and Jerry.
Gallery[]
Looney Works[]
In his Warners career, Pierce worked with three of the three best-known Warner animation directors (Jones, McKimson and Friz Freleng). He contributed many notable storylines for all three of them, including Freleng's Hare Do (1949), Bad Ol' Putty Tat (1949), Bunker Hill Bunny (1950) and Big House Bunny (1950); Jones' Hare Tonic (1945, an early success for both of them) and Broom-Stick Bunny (1956); and McKimson's Hillbilly Hare (1950), Lovelorn Leghorn (1951) and Cat-Tails for Two (1953), the last of which was Speedy Gonzales' first appearance. However, because much of Pierce's Termite Terrace career was spent with McKimson's unit (McKimson considered the least-known Warners animation director), it would follow that Pierce was generally overshadowed by his contemporaries as screenwriters at Warners: Warren Foster and Michael Maltese.
1930s[]
- The Lyin' Mouse (1937)
- September in the Rain (1937)
- My Little Buckaroo (1938)
- A Star Is Hatched (1938)
- Cinderella Meets Fella (1938)
- Little Pancho Vanilla (1938)
- The Night Watchman (1938)
- The Little Lion Hunter (1939) (with Bob Givens) (uncredited)
1940-1946[]
- Elmer's Candid Camera (1940) (with Rich Hogan) (uncredited)
- Bedtime for Sniffles (1940) (with Rich Hogan) (uncredited)
- The Bird Came C.O.D. (1942) (uncredited)
- The Draft Horse (1942)
- Hold the Lion, Please (1942)
- The Squawkin' Hawk (1942) (with Michael Maltese) (uncredited)
- Fox Pop (1942)
- The Dover Boys (1942)
- Ding Dog Daddy (1942)
- Case of the Missing Hare (1942)
- Pigs in a Polka (1943) (with Warren Foster and Michael Maltese) (uncredited)
- To Duck .... or Not to Duck (1943)
- Super-Rabbit (1943)
- Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943)
- Greetings Bait (1943)
- The Aristo-cat (1943)
- Wackiki Wabbit (1943)
- Tom Turk and Daffy (1944) (with Michael Maltese) (both credited as "The Staff")
- Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (1944)
- Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944)
- Duck Soup to Nuts (1944)
- Hare Force (1944)
- Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears (1944) ††
- Lost and Foundling (1944)
- Odor-able Kitty (1945)
- Trap Happy Porky (1945)
- Life with Feathers (1945)
- Hare Conditioned (1945)
- Hare Tonic (1945)
- Holiday for Shoestrings (1946) (with Michael Maltese)
- Quentin Quail (1946)
- Hush My Mouse (1946)
- Hair-Raising Hare (1946) (with Michael Maltese (uncredited)[2])
- The Eager Beaver (1946)
- Fair and Worm-er (1946) (with Michael Maltese)
- Rhapsody Rabbit (1946) (with Michael Maltese)
- Roughly Squeaking (1946) (with Michael Maltese)
1947-1951[]
- The Gay Anties (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- Scent-imental over You (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- A Hare Grows in Manhattan (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- Tweetie Pie (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- Rabbit Transit (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- Along Came Daffy (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- Inki at the Circus (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- A Pest in the House (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- House Hunting Mice (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- Little Orphan Airedale (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- Slick Hare (1947) (with Michael Maltese)
- A Feather in His Hare (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- What's Brewin', Bruin? (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- Back Alley Oproar (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- I Taw a Putty Tat (1948)
- Rabbit Punch (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- Buccaneer Bunny (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- Bugs Bunny Rides Again (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- You Were Never Duckier (1948)
- Hare Splitter (1948)
- Kit for Cat (1948) (with Michael Maltese)
- Wise Quackers (1949)
- Hare Do (1949)
- High Diving Hare (1949)
- Curtain Razor (1949)
- Mouse Mazurka (1949)
- Knights Must Fall (1949)
- Bad Ol' Putty Tat (1949)
- Dough for the Do-Do (1949) (uncredited)
- Each Dawn I Crow (1949)
- Which Is Witch (1949)
- Home, Tweet Home (1950)
- Mutiny on the Bunny (1950)
- The Lion's Busy (1950)
- Big House Bunny (1950)
- His Bitter Half (1950)
- All a Bir-r-r-d (1950)
- Golden Yeggs (1950)
- Hillbilly Hare (1950)
- Bunker Hill Bunny (1950)
- Canary Row (1950)
- Room and Bird (1951) (with Warren Foster)
- French Rarebit (1951)
- Lovelorn Leghorn (1951)
- Sleepy Time Possum (1951)
- Big Top Bunny (1951)
- The Prize Pest (1951)
1952-1956[]
- Who's Kitten Who? (1952)
- Thumb Fun (1952)
- Kiddin' the Kitten (1952)
- Sock a Doodle Do (1952)
- The Turn-Tale Wolf (1952)
- Oily Hare (1952)
- Hoppy Go Lucky (1952)
- The EGGcited Rooster (1952)
- The Super Snooper (1952)
- Rabbit's Kin (1952)
- Fool Coverage (1952)
- Upswept Hare (1953)
- A Peck o' Trouble (1953)
- Muscle Tussle (1953)
- There Auto Be a Law (1953)
- Plop Goes the Weasel! (1953)
- Cat-Tails for Two (1953)
- Easy Peckin's (1953)
- Cats A-weigh! (1953)
- Wild Wife (1954)
- Design for Leaving (1954)
- Bell Hoppy (1954)
- Little Boy Boo (1954)
- Feather Dusted (1955)
- Knight-Mare Hare (1955)
- Bugs' Bonnets (1956)
- Weasel Stop (1956)
- The High and the Flighty (1956)
- Broom-Stick Bunny (1956)
- Rocket Squad (1956)
- Mixed Master (1956)
- Stupor Duck (1956)
- Half-Fare Hare (1956)
- Raw! Raw! Rooster! (1956)
- The Slap-Hoppy Mouse (1956)
- Wideo Wabbit (1956)
- The Honey-Mousers (1956)
1957-1964[]
- Bedevilled Rabbit (1957)
- Cheese It, the Cat! (1957)
- Boston Quackie (1957)
- Tabasco Road (1957)
- Ducking the Devil (1957)
- Mouse-Taken Identity (1957)
- Don't Axe Me (1958)
- Tortilla Flaps (1958)
- Feather Bluster (1958)
- Now, Hare This (1958)
- Dog Tales (1958)
- Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958)
- Gopher Broke (1958)
- Mouse-Placed Kitten (1959)
- China Jones (1959)
- The Mouse That Jack Built (1959)
- A Mutt in a Rut (1959)
- Backwoods Bunny (1959)
- Cat's Paw (1959)
- Bonanza Bunny (1959)
- People Are Bunny (1959)
- West of the Pesos (1960)
- Wild Wild World (1960)
- Crockett-Doodle-Do (1960)
- Mice Follies (1960)
- The Dixie Fryer (1960)
- Dog Gone People (1960)
- Cannery Woe (1961)
- Hoppy Daze (1961)
- Strangled Eggs (1961)
- The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961)
- The Slick Chick (1962)
- Freudy Cat (1964)
- Hawaiian Aye Aye (1964) (with Bill Danch)
Also see the Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Characters Created[]
Looney Roles[]
He imitated Bud Abbott in three Warner cartoons casting Abbott and Costello as alley cats Babbit and Catstello. Pierce also voiced the "tall, thin" character in "Wackiki Wabbit" (1943, which he wrote for Jones), and Chef Louis in "French Rarebit" (1951, which he wrote for McKimson). In addition, in a few cartoons containing Jones' Hubie and Bertie, Bertie's voice was Pierce.
Also see the Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Tedd Pierce