A curious death

BOYNTON BEACH, Florida – Alan Shalleck (76), who collaborated with the co-creator of ‘Curious George’ to bring the mischievous monkey to television and a series of book sequels, was found dead outside his home.

Police are treating the death as a possible homicide. Shalleck’s death came just as ‘Curious George’ debuted as a full-length feature film on Friday, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore and Dick Van Dyke, among others.Shalleck was the writer and director of more than 100 short episodes of ‘Curious George’, which were seen on the Disney Channel.The original series of seven Curious George books began in 1941, shortly after George’s creators, HA Rey and his wife, Margret, fled to the United States from wartorn Europe.A precursor of the character had appeared in a book they did in France in 1939.Hans Rey did the illustrations and his wife wrote the stories.Shalleck had approached Margret Rey about bringing Curious George to television in 1977, the same year her husband died.In addition to more than 100 five-minute TV shorts, Shalleck and Margret Rey wrote more than two dozen more books about George.She died in 1996 at age 90.Shalleck said she and her husband identified with their readers because they were children at heart.A Syracuse University drama major, Shalleck got his start in 1950 in the CBS mailroom, working his way up to associate producer for ‘Winky Dink and You’, a children’s television show in which kids drew on a plastic film placed on the TV screen.He later produced children’s films and formed his own company.- Nampa-APShalleck’s death came just as ‘Curious George’ debuted as a full-length feature film on Friday, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore and Dick Van Dyke, among others.Shalleck was the writer and director of more than 100 short episodes of ‘Curious George’, which were seen on the Disney Channel.The original series of seven Curious George books began in 1941, shortly after George’s creators, HA Rey and his wife, Margret, fled to the United States from wartorn Europe.A precursor of the character had appeared in a book they did in France in 1939.Hans Rey did the illustrations and his wife wrote the stories.Shalleck had approached Margret Rey about bringing Curious George to television in 1977, the same year her husband died.In addition to more than 100 five-minute TV shorts, Shalleck and Margret Rey wrote more than two dozen more books about George.She died in 1996 at age 90.Shalleck said she and her husband identified with their readers because they were children at heart.A Syracuse University drama major, Shalleck got his start in 1950 in the CBS mailroom, working his way up to associate producer for ‘Winky Dink and You’, a children’s television show in which kids drew on a plastic film placed on the TV screen.He later produced children’s films and formed his own company.- Nampa-AP