John Lasseter

LOS ANGELES – MAY 18: Lasseter arrives to the “Finding Nemo” Hollywood Premiere on May 18, 2003 in Hollywood, CA, DFree/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: John Alan Lasseter

Place of Birth: Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: January 12, 1957

Ethnicity: English, as well as Scottish, Irish, German, Dutch, Welsh, French, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish

John Lasseter is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, and voice actor. He has directed the films Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, the latter of which he also co-wrote; and Cars 2. He has been chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, and Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering; and is head of animation at Skydance Animation. In the 1980s, he had initially been fired by Disney for promoting computer animation, before helping pioneer the technology at The Graphics Group of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm; which became Pixar. John oversaw all Pixar films until roughly 2018, and, from 2006 to 2018, oversaw all of Walt Disney Animation Studios’/Disneytoon Studios’ projects. Many of the films he has been involved in have become among the highest-grossing animated movies of all time.

John is the son of Jewell Mae, a high school art teacher, and Paul Eual Lasseter, a parts manager at a Chevrolet dealership. His parents were from Arkansas. He has considerable Colonial American ancestry. John was raised in Whittier, California. He is married to computer graphics engineer Nancy, with whom he has five children. They own the Lasseter Family Winery in Glen Ellen, CA.

John’s paternal grandfather was Palmer Ual Lassetter/Lasseter (the son of Benjamin Richard Lassetter and Zenomie Viola “Nomie” Perkins). Palmer was born in Arkansas. Benjamin was born in Tallapoosa, Alabama, the son of Elisha Lassetter/Lasseter and Parthenia Elizabeth Flourney/Flournoy. Zenomie was born in Mississippi, the daughter of James Harrison Perkins and Lizzie.

John’s paternal grandmother was Carrie Lou Beavers (the daughter of Willis Bright Beavers and Millie A. Irvine). Carrie was born in Austin, Lonoke, Arkansas. Willis was the son of Dudley Gray Beavers and Caroline Ataresia Harris. Millie was born in St. Francis, Arkansas.

John’s maternal grandfather was Leland Claude Risley (the son of John William Risley and Louise Alice “Lue” Spear/Spears). Leland was born in Arkansas. John’s great-grandfather John was born in Cane Hill, Washington, Arkansas, the son of David Hamilton Risley and Sarah Ann Roberts. Louise was the daughter of Amos Spear and Jane Dovey Mansell.

John’s maternal grandmother was Medie Clyde Farmer (the daughter of Pinkney Leander Farmer and Cornelia Thomas Walker). Medie was born in Tennessee. Pinkey was the son of Jeremiah Farmer, whose mother was born in Ireland, and of Jane Smith. Cornelia was the daughter of W. J. Walker and Tinney Stinson.

Sources: Genealogy of John Lasseter – https://www.geni.com

Genealogies of John’s parents – https://www.familysearch.org