Earl Kress - In Memoriam of an MC Family Member

[BobThePizzaBoy]

I'm not sure if anyone's posted this or not, but we've lost a great animation historian and a member of the MC family today: Earl Kress aka Was Once Ernie. You can write an obituary of sorts, which mentions him working on The Muppet Movie here:
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2011_09_19.html#021305

I'm so shocked, I never really talked with Earl on the forum but definitely knew him from the Hanna-Barbera DVD season sets and he was one of the true forces alongside Jerry Beck in animation history experts. He was truly a great writer and talent, I didn't even have any idea he was suffering.

Rest in peace Earl Kress.

 

[Mr Humbug]

I was hoping to get in touch with Earl in relation to a project I am currently working on and only yesterday I decided to reread his Muppet Central posts by way of research - what sad, strange timing.

What comes across when reading "Was Once Ernie"'s posts is that, despite having a career that many of us can only dream of having, his recollections could never have been interpreted as bragging or name-dropping. Earl Kress just wanted to share some memories that he knew would be of special value to his fellow Muppet fans.

RIP

 

[Katzi428]

Wow...I read it on FB. I had to ask myself "Was Earl 'Was Once Ernie'?" when I read the onbituary. I never got a chance to chat with him. Now I wish I had. R.I. P. Earl. And say hello to Jim, Jerry ,Richard & those that have passed away before us. My sympathy goes out to the Kress family.

 

[D'Snowth]

OMG, I can't believe this... I was just thinking about him the other day, I hadn't seen him on the forum as of late. I can't believe it, this is a shock.

I am happy to say, however, that I did have the pleasure of speaking with him not too long ago regarding some matters in the world of the art of puppetry from his experiences he's shared with me about working with Jim; what he had to say was very insightful and informative, but at the same time, is also supposed to be kept secret, so naturally, I won't go into details oabout what we talked about, but again, it did shed some light on some subjects I had issues with in puppetry.

Such a sad, sad loss.

 

[theprawncracker]

This is such a major shame. I'm so saddened to hear this news... I recently watched all of my Pinky and The Brain episodes on DVD and every time Earl's name popped up with a writing credit it made me smile knowing that I had some small interactions with him in the past. Earl was a truly warm, funny, and intelligent man who shared his unbelievable experiences with us obsessed fans. His legacy lives on through his revolutionary posts from behind the scenes on The Muppet Movie to his numerous, impeccable writing credits on shows like Pinky and The Brain, Animaniacs, and so many other things that have touched the hearts and funny bones of countless people.

Earl and his humor and heart will be missed.

 

[redBoobergurl]

I remember reading his posts and thinking he was so knowledgeable and so down to Earth. We lost a wonderful man today.

 

[Stulz]

I always enjoyed talking to him and his vast knowledge of both The Muppets and animation was inspring. We only met face to face once at a Muppet related but we enjoyed a great repport here one boards and he will surely be missed.

More info here: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/tv/earl-kress.html

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

Rest in peace, sir, and thank you for adding such wonderful life to this community.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Wow. My friend Steve just sent me a message on Facebook about this. I'm in shock that my pal Earl passed away. When I feel up to it, I'd like to post more about him.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

For anyone who listens to "Stu's Show," a wonderful radio show hosted by Stu Shostak, Stu put all his plans for the show aside for tonight for a tribute to Earl. For the next two weeks you can listen to the tribute free of change on http://www.stusshow.com/. I'm listening to it now, it's truly heartbreaking and you can hear the pain in Stu's voice for him to tell people of this news.