Lou Scheimer

Best known for his colorful 1980s cartoons, award-winning producer Lou Scheimer broke into television in 1958 when he worked as an art director on the children's cartoon show "Bozo: The World's Most Famous Clown." Shortly thereafter, Scheimer, alongside business partner Norm Prescott, founded Filmation Associates, a production company that would be responsible for a number of popular programs before its dissolution in the 1990s. With Filmation, Scheimer produced a string of cartoon series adapted from comic book heroes. Then in 1972, Scheimer and his wife, Jay Scheimer, collaborated with celebrated comedian Bill Cosby on a moralistic cartoon for urban youth. The resulting animated series was "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids," which was critically praised and proved to be a cultural phenomenon. Scheimer produced numerous family-friendly series throughout the '70s and '80s, but he may be best regarded for the creation of the action-packed animated adventure series "He-Man and the Master of the Universe" and its female-driven spin-off, "She-Ra: Princess of Power." Scheimer produced cartoons until a Parkinson's disease diagnosis caused him to retire and close down Filmation.