Mary Ellen Bute
American film director and animator (1906-1983) · United States · On the map · Directors · Died at 76
Mary Ellen Bute was a pioneer American film animator, producer, and director. She was one of the first female experimental filmmakers, and was the creator of some of the first electronically generated film images.
Mary Ellen Bute is read about 9 times a day, in 10 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 24 August 2026
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Passages from James Joyce's Finnegans WakeFilm, Director, Producer1958
Mood ContrastsFilm, Director1956
New Sensations in Sound by RCA VictorFilm, Director
The Boy Who Saw ThroughFilm, 1956Producer1952
AbstronicFilm, Director1950PastoraleFilm, Director1948
Color RhapsodieFilm, Director1947
Polka GraphFilm, Director1940
Spook SportFilm, Director1937
Escape (Synchronomy No. 4)Film, Director1936DadaFilm, Director1935Synchromy No. 2Film, Director1934
Rhythm in LightFilm, DirectorSynchromy No. 1Film, 1934Director1906Born21 November 1906People around Mary
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Filmography 16
21 credits on file
About this person
Her specialty was visual music; while working in New York City between 1934 and 1958, Bute made fourteen short abstract musical films. Many of these were seen in regular movie theaters, such as Radio City Music Hall, usually preceding a prestigious film. Several of her abstract films were part of her Seeing Sound series.
