Shaw was born on December 19, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York.[2] His mother was an opera singer and his father was a lawyer.[2] He was the second oldest of four brothers born to his parents.[2]
Shaw was personally recruited by Walt Disney to work on the 1942 animated classic, Bambi.[1][2] He left Disney Studios to enlist in the Army Signal Corps, where he served as a combat photographer during World War II.
Shaw returned to Disney's animation department in 1974 at the invitation of Walt Disney Studios.[1] He returned to work on Disney animated films and mentored a new generation of animators. His last film at Disney was Brother Bear, released in 2003.[1]
Shaw partnered with former MGM Studios animator Bob Allen to establish a design firm.[1] Under Shaw and Allen, their company designed Howdy Doody for NBC during the late 1940s.[1][2]
He was among a couple of artists who worked at Disney both during its Golden Age within the late-1930s as well as during the studio's resurgence within the 1990s.[3][4][5]
Death
Shaw died from congestive heart failure on November 22, 2012, at the Woodland Care Center in Reseda, California, at the age of 97.[1] His first wife, Louise, died in 1984.[2] Shaw's second wife, Florence Lounsbery, who died in 2004, was the widow of Disney animator, John Lounsbery.[2] They had resided in Acampo, California, for more than twenty years.[2]
Filmography
We're in the Money (short) (animator - uncredited) - 1933
Tale of the Vienna Woods (short) (story, animator and character layouts - uncredited) - 1934
