Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town Director Jules Bass Dead at 87
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty; Jules Bass/Twitter
Jules Bass, the director behind classic animated Christmas specials like Frosty the Snowman, has died. He was 87.
The producer and director died Tuesday of age-related illness in Rye, New York, a rep confirmed to PEOPLE, adding, "He will be dearly missed by his close friends."
According to Variety, Bass' daughter Jean Nicole Bass died in January at 61.
Along with producing partner Arthur Rankin Jr., Bass co-directed holiday classics like The Little Drummer Boy (1968), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970), The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) and Jack Frost (1979).
Under their Rankin/Bass company, they also produced 1964's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
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Rankin-Bass Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock
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Bass and Rankin Jr. — who died in January 2014 at 89 — also directed the crossovers and sequels Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976), Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976) and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979). In 1977, The Little Drummer Boy Book II earned them an Emmy nomination for outstanding children's special.
Outside of holiday fare, the pair directed the 1977 animated TV movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit — which earned them a Peabody Award — plus 1982's The Last Unicorn, which starred Jeff Bridges, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow and Alan Arkin.
Also an author, Bass' 2001 novel Headhunters was adapted into the 2011 Selena Gomez movie Monte Carlo, which also starred Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester and Cory Monteith.
