Bute, Mary Ellen

Motion picture director.

From the description of Interview conducted by Oliver Daniel, May 27, 1980 [sound recording]. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155862264

Mary Ellen Bute was a film animator, director and producer based in New York City. She was a pioneer in adopting electronic techniques for film animation. Early in her career she made animated films of the "visual music" style which synchronized abstract images and music. Her later films were live action and included adaptations of works by James Joyce and Thornton Wilder. Bute was born in Houston, Texas in 1906. She studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadephia and lighting design at Yale University. Her early influences included Leon Theremin and Gerald Warburg. In 1940 Bute married camera operator and painter Theodore (Ted) Nemeth and they collaborated on many of her projects. Ted Nemeth Studios focused on commercial films and Nemeth also handled the distribution of Bute's films.

From the description of Mary Ellen Bute papers, 1907-1985. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702162664