Everett Peck, 'Duckman' creator and animation star, dies at 71
Jun 17, 2022
Washington [US], June 17 : Everett Peck, the illustrator and cartoonist of the wacky animated series 'Duckman' starring Jason Alexander, has died. He was 71 years old at the time.
According to a post on his Instagram handle, Peck died on Tuesday. "Mr Peck has left the studio," the posts read. There were no more facts about his death available at the time.
Peck created 'Duckman' for a Dark Horse Comics one-shot comic book in 1990 while presenting the idea for an adult-oriented animated series. It premiered on the USA Network in 1994, was produced by Klasky-Csupo (the original production company behind The Simpsons), and ran for four seasons until 1997, receiving three Emmy nominations.
In a 2009 interview, Peck said, "Duckman represents the plight of the little guy in an ever more complex and demanding world. Like many of us, he struggles to break even but is ultimately squashed by powers far beyond his control", as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Alexander played Eric Tiberius 'Duckman', a self-obsessed "private dick/family man" who lives with his deceased wife, sister, two children, and mother-in-law.
In a 2009 interview, Peck remarked, "Jason was still fairly unknown at the time." "He was able to do the rapid-fire delivery the way the show was written, had a great sense of comic timing and a good quality to his voice."
Characters were also voiced by Nancy Travis, Gregg Berger, Tim Curry, and Dweezil Zappa (whose father, Frank Zappa, composed the theme music).
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peck also created the Cartoon Network series Squirrel Boy, which starred Richard Steven Horvitz and Pamela Adlon and featured an anthropomorphic figure similar to Duckman.
Peck, who was born on October 9, 1950, in Taos, New Mexico, graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in illustration and took over the illustration programme at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1984.
He later worked on a couple of Sesame Street animation projects with Klasky-Csupo and helped launch Sony's animation branch.
Rugrats, The Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters, Dragon Tales, Jumanji, The Critic, and Sammy were among his credits.
He was a resident of Oceanside, California. Helen, his wife, is among the survivors.
