Arthur Rankin Jr. (July 19, 1924–Jan. 30, 2014)
Jules Bass (September 16, 1935–Oct. 25, 2022)
It is practically impossible to think of Christmas without thinking of Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In many ways, the memories many of us have of those fictional characters come from two individuals: Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass.
Arthur Rankin Jr. grew up in show business, as both his father and stepmother, Arthur Rankin and Marian Mansfield, were actors, as well as his grandfather, Harry Davenport. Rankin began his career in the late 1940s with ABC, first as a graphic designer and then as an art director. In back-to-back years (1950 and 1951) he won art direction awards. The following year, he started his own advertising company, Videocraft International, which is how he came to meet his future business partner, Jules Bass….