Lee Mendelson

Shortly after the documentary aired, Mendelson came across a Peanuts comic strip that revolved around Charlie Brown's baseball team.

Lee Mendelson, producer of the majority of the Peanuts television specials, has said of Charlie Brown that "He was, and is, the ultimate survivor in overcoming bulliness—Lucy or otherwise."

After a hurried six-month production period, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired December 9, 1965 on CBS.

Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez, the program made its debut on CBS on December 9, 1965.

Mendelson also hired jazz composer Vince Guaraldi after hearing a Guaraldi-composed song while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.

While searching for music to accompany a planned Peanuts television documentary, Lee Mendelson (the producer of the special) heard a single version of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Guaraldi's trio on the radio while traveling in a taxicab.

Mendelson's career in television began in 1961, when he started working at San Francisco's KPIX-TV, where he created public service announcements.

Schulz in turn suggested hiring animator and director Bill Meléndez, whom Schulz had worked with while creating a Peanuts-themed advertising campaign for the Ford Motor Company.

Melendez and Lee Mendelson, who also worked on the Peanuts specials, films, and TV shows, formed their own production team and did other animated specials.

Mendelson is the daughter of Lee Mendelson.

In addition, they collaborated on The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show which ran on Saturday mornings during the 1980s.

He is best known as the executive producer of the many Peanuts animated specials.

Mendelson was born in San Francisco, California, grew up in San Mateo, and entered Stanford University in 1950, where he studied creative writing.

Mendelson was born in San Francisco, California, grew up in San Mateo, and entered Stanford University in 1950, where he studied creative writing.

After graduating in 1954, he spent three years in the Air Force where he served as a lieutenant.

A fortunate find of some antique film footage of the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair led to Mendelson's first production, a documentary entitled The Innocent Fair.

The documentary was the first in a series on the history of the city, San Francisco Pageant, for which Mendelson won a Peabody Award.

His first work was a documentary on Willie Mays, A Man Named Mays.

Mendelson approached Peanuts creator Charles Schulz with the idea of producing a documentary on Schulz and his strip.

While Mendelson was attempting to find a market for the Schulz documentary, he was approached by The Coca-Cola Company, who asked him if he was interested in producing an animated Christmas special for television.

Schulz in turn suggested hiring animator and director Bill Meléndez, whom Schulz had worked with while creating a Peanuts-themed advertising campaign for the Ford Motor Company.

Mendelson also hired jazz composer Vince Guaraldi after hearing a Guaraldi-composed song while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.

After a hurried six-month production period, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired December 9, 1965 on CBS.

The show went on to win both the Emmy and Peabody award, and was the first of over 40 animated Peanuts specials created by Mendelson, Melendez, and Schulz.

In 1968, Mendelson produced the documentary, Travels With Charley based upon the book by John Steinbeck.

Mendelson is the founder and head of Lee Mendelson Film Productions, a Burlingame, California-based television and film production company.

Mendelson Productions has produced over 100 television and film productions, winning 12 Emmys and 4 Peabodys, as well as numerous Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar nominations.

Mendelson Productions has produced over 100 television and film productions, winning 12 Emmys and 4 Peabodys, as well as numerous Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar nominations.

Mendelson was born in San Francisco, California, grew up in San Mateo, and entered Stanford University in 1950, where he studied creative writing.