Passages: Kaufman was Mr. Magoo co-creator

Published 10:09 pm Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Millard Kaufman, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of “Bad Day at Black Rock” and co-creator of Mr. Magoo has died. He was 92.

Kaufman died of heart failure Saturday, two days after his birthday, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his son, Frederick Kaufman.

Kaufman made a mark on pop culture by writing the screenplay for “Ragtime Bear,” the 1949 cartoon short directed by John Hubley that introduced the near-sighted Mr. Magoo.

The character, voiced by actor Jim Backus, was modeled in part on Kaufman’s uncle.

Kaufman wrote the screenplays for “Unknown World” and “Aladdin and His Lamp” before spending more than a decade as a writer at MGM.

Other Kaufman film credits are “Raintree County,” “Never So Few,” The War Lord,” “Living Free” and “The Klansman.” Among his TV credits are “Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb.”

Los Angeles Times