Ken Spears, the co-creator of Scooby-Doo, passed away yesterday at the age of 82. His son Kevin confirmed to Variety that his father had died of a form of dementia.
Spears teamed up with Joe Ruby, who died in August at the age of 87, to create the talking dog who, with his human friends Shaggy, Thelma, Fred and Daphne, solves mysteries. The first series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! appeared in 1969.
The pair started their own studio, Ruby-Spears Production, in 1977. They produced several other series with that, including animated versions of Punky Brewster, Rambo and Police Academy.
Scooby-Doo remained their greatest success. For example, several reboots, spin-offs and films were made. The most recent, Scoob !, was released earlier this year due to the corona crisis on on-demand channels.
