Alan Shalleck Found Dead Outside His Home

Alan J. Shalleck, who collaborated with the co-creator of “Curious George” to bring the mischievous monkey to television and publish a series of book sequels, was found dead outside his home Tuesday, and police were treating the death as a possible homicide.

A maintenance man found the bloodied body of Shalleck, 76, covered in garbage bags in the driveway of his mobile home. Police said it had been there for at least a day.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Gladys Cannon wouldn’t disclose details about how Shalleck died.

“Curious George” is being released Friday as a full-length animated film, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore and Dick Van Dyke, among others.

A native of New York City, Shalleck graduated from Syracuse University. He got his start in 1950 in the CBS-TV mailroom, working his way up to associate producer for “Winky Dink and You,” a children’s television show in which viewers drew on a plastic film placed over the television screen.

He later produced children’s films and formed his own company.

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 were published beginning in 1941, shortly after creators, H.A. Rey and his wife, Margret, came to the United States from war-torn Europe. A precursor of the character had appeared in a book they created in France in 1939.

Hans Augusto Rey did the illustrations and Margret Rey wrote the stories.

Shalleck 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 episodes, Shalleck and Margret Rey wrote more than two dozen books about George, whose curiosity always got him into trouble.

She died in 1996 at age 90. Shalleck said the Reys identified with their readers because they were children at heart.

“They always considered little children as little people and wanted to write for them as little people,” Shalleck said.