Lillian Friedman Astor
The Fleischer Studios was the second animation studio established in NYC. The first was the Bray Studio, where Max Fleischer worked before establishing his own studio. They created In the 1930s at the Fleischer Studios, Lillian Friedman Astor was hired as an inking and colorist. She may be the first woman to work in an animation studio in NYC. She helped animate Betty Boop. At the studio she received screen credit on only 6 of the 42 cartoons she animated.
"She was not modeled after any single performer,” Mark Fleischer said. “It’s important to distinguish the collective creativity of the Jazz Age and its style from the many individual Jazz Age artists who contributed to it. And the number of amazing artists and performers who created that great era and who are embodied in Betty Boop is so large that it’s impossible to single out any one great talent as her inspiration.”
“Esther Jones was a truly talented young performer,” Mark Fleischer said. “What is so problematic here is that to mistakenly single her out — or anyone else — as the sole source of Betty Boop’s Jazz Age inspiration creates an untrue narrative that distracts from and potentially eclipses our appreciation and enjoyment of the very real contributions that those involved have made to our culture. … This would include Esther Jones … Esther Jones was a real person with her own real story that deserves to be heard.”