Lee Mendelson

Lee Mendelson was an American television producer.

Mendelson was best known for producing more than 50 animated TV specials featuring Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. He also wrote the lyrics to "Christmas Time Is Here," a song featured in A Charlie Brown Christmas, the 1965 special that became a holiday television staple. (The music for the song was written by jazz musician Vince Guaraldi.) A Charlie Brown Christmas brought Mendelson the first of his 12 Emmy Awards. The last came in 2015 for It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown. Mendelson's work with animator Lee Melendez also brought him four Peabody Awards, an Oscar nomination and two Grammy Award nominations.

Mendelson teamed with Garfield creator Jim Davis to produce the Garfield and Friends animated series from 1991-1994. He also worked with Cathy cartoonist Cathy Guisewite on three primetime Cathy animated specials that aired between 1987 and 1989.

Outside of children's programming, Mendelson produced documentaries and network specials featuring such stars as Paul Newman, Gene Kelly, Joanne Woodward, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, Flip Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, Muhammad Ali and Carl Reiner.

Mendelson died December 25, 2019, in Hillsborough, California. He was 86.