Grim Natwick - Creator of Betty Boop

Grim Natwick was born Myron Nordveig in Wisconsin Rapids in 1890. As was done in many Norwegian families of the era whose complicated family names confused American record keeping, his last name was simplified to the more American sounding “Natwick”. “Grim” was an opposite nickname that reflected his upbeat and cheerful attitude. Natwick’s animation career began in the silent era and spanned the entire history of hand-drawn animation. He worked for every major animation studio during Hollwood’s golden era and had a hand in a long list of iconic productions. He created Betty Boop while an employee at the Fleischer Studios, was a key animator on Disney’s SNOW WHITE, he worked on POPEYE, FELIX THE CAT, MR MAGOO, WOODY WOODPECKER and had a strong hand in the 1951 Academy Award Winning short, ROOTY TOOT TOOT for UPA studios. In the field of animated TV commercials, he was very busy. He continued to work into his 90’s and passed away at the age of 100 in 1990.