11 November 2020
Ken Spears, the co-creator of the cartoon series Scooby-Doo, has died at the age of 82.
Spears, who created the animated characters alongside his creative partner Joe Ruby, died of complications from Lewy body dementia.
Their original show, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? only ran for two series from 1969-1970, but established a template that spawned 50 years of stories.
Spears’ death comes three months after that of his co-creator, Ruby.
Ken Spears was born in Los Angeles on 12 March 1938 and met Ruby when both were sound editors and staff writers at animation studio Hanna Barbera.
While there, the pair created Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? which debuted on CBS in September 1969.
It followed the adventures of a cowardly but good-natured Great Dane, Scooby, who travelled the US solving spooky mysteries with a group of plucky teenagers – Daphne, Fred, Velma and his slacker sidekick, Shaggy.
