Ben Hardaway

Joseph Benson "Ben/Bugs" Hardaway (1897 - 1957) was a storyboard artist, gagman, and director for several American animation studios during the The Golden Age of Hollywood animation He was sometimes credited as J.B. Hardaway.

While at Warner Brothers during the late 1930s, Hardaway served as a storyman, and co-directed several films with Cal Dalton during Friz Freleng's three-year exodus to MGM. In 1938, Hardaway co-directed the first film to feature an embryonic version of Bugs Bunny. Bugs was named after Ben using his nickname from a drawing of Happy Rabbit which was labeled "Bugs' Bunny." In 1940, Hardaway joined the staff of the Walter Lantz Studio, where he helped Walter Lantz in creating the studio's most famous character, Woody Woodpecker. Hardaway wrote or co-wrote most of the stories for the 1940 - 1949 Woody Woodpecker shorts, and also voiced the character during this period as well (Mel Blanc voiced Woody for the woodpecker's first four cartoon appearances: Knock Knock, Woody Woodpecker, The Screwball, and Pantry Panic).

Hardaway was also the writer for the Pow Wow the Indian Boy cartoon series that aired as part of the Captain Kangaroo show.