John W. Burton

Biography

Burton was born in Belvedere, Illinois, as the youngest of three children. His father, a travelling drugs salesman from the Greater Toronto area, died when his son was ten years old, and Burton and his family moved to Los Angeles, California in the late 1910s. Burton started work in the 1920s, as an animation cameraman for Leon Schlesinger Productions - the animation company that was responsible for animating the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" shorts for Warner Bros. In 1944, Warner Bros. bought the studio and renamed it Warner Bros. Cartoons; Burton moved up the ranks to become production manager, and then eventually producer in 1958. During this time, Burton's son John Burton Jr. also joined Warner Bros. as an animator. In 1961, Burton left Warner Bros., and was replaced as producer by David H. DePatie. Burton once again came to work for Leon Schlesinger, and worked as an executive at Pacific Title. Burton died in Los Angeles in 1978.