PETE KLEINOW DIED JAN. 6, 2006
OBITUARY
Country/Rock pedal- teel guitarist “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow died of Alzheimer’s Disease at age 72. Mr. Kleinow was also a noted Emmy-winning stop-motion animator. “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow was a guitarist for the Flying Burrito Brothers and appeared in the excellent Maysles Brothers documentary Gimme Shelter with other members of his band as they performed at the ill-fated Altamont Concert in 1969.
It was Kleinow’s stop-animation innovation that brought the artform to a new level. It was he who was originally responsible for the early Pillsbury Doughboy commercials. He also animated the Purina Chow Chuck Wagon in the notorious commercial (lampooned in an episode of Family Guy). Kleinow also worked with clay stop-animation on such pioneering shows as Davey and Goliath and The Gumby Show.
The ultra-frightening and realistic ending of James Cameron’s The Terminator owes a great debt to Pete Kleinow’s animation, as well. Pete Kleinow was also responsible for the spectacular re-entry scenes in The Right Stuff.
He also worked on: Gremlins, RoboCop 2, Army of Darkness, and The Empire Strikes Back, Holes, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Return of the Living Dead, and the television show Land of the Lost.
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