Emmy-winning animation producer John Bush, who worked on The Simpsons, Family Guy and X-Men: Evolution has died at age 69. Bush passed away on Nov. 23 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of B-cell lymphoma of the brain stem, according to his friend Kevin Bannerman.
Born on July 6, 1954 in Albert Lea, Minnesota, John Michael Bush and his family oved to Tokyo when he was six. Upon his return to the U.S., he attended San Francisco State College where he majored In theater arts. He performed in the musical revue Beach Blanket Babylon from 1981 to 1983. He worked as an actor in Los Angeles and won $20,000 on the game show Super Password.
From 1992 to 1998, he was a producer at Hyperion Pictures working on direct-to-video titles such as The Oz Kids, Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue and Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. He then became a producer for FOX-TV’s Family Guy in 1998 and Disney’s Clerks: The Cartoon in 1999. In 2000, he became the VP of production at Film Roman, working on animated show such as The Simpsons, King of the Hill, The Oblongs, X-Men: Evolution and Tripping the Rift. He received an Emmy for his work on The Simpsons in 2001 and was nominated for another Emmy for show in 2002.
In 2005, Bush produced the pioneering LGBTQ stop-motion series Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in the World at LOGO/MTV Networks in 2004. He became supervising producer on Bardel Entertainment’s Edgar and Ellen show in 2006 and a producer on the pilot for Jim Henson Company’s PBS show Dinosaur Train in 2008.
Bush was also the line producer on three acclaimed Warner Bros. Animation’s CG theatrical shorts, I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat, Daffy’s Rhapsody and Flash in the Pain, in 2011 and a producer for Sony Pictures Animation’s feature Open Season, Scared Silly in 2014. Among his final credits were line producer for Warner Bros. Animation’s 2018 direct-to-DVD feature, Scooby-Doo! And the Gourmet Ghost and the New Looney Tunes series (2015-2020) for Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
According to Bannerman, Bush was very active in the San Francisco and Los Angeles gay rights communities and would often attend protests and write to local, state, and federal representatives to fight for equal rights. He was also a huge movie fan, especially musicals and campy comedies. Barbra Streisand and Julie Andrews were among his favorites.
Survivors include his sister, Mary, brother Rick and niece Taylyn. A memorial service is set for noon on Sunday in Los Angeles. Please contact dan@danshaner.com for more info.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
