Dean Yeagle was born in 1947 in the United States and is best known for his iconic heroine Mandy, a regular feature in the pages of Playboy Magazine. A fan of Disney productions from a very young age, he decided at age 10 to become an animator for the company. He began by drawing their characters before developing his own stories. After high school, Dean Yeagle enrolled in art school, but chose to leave the program after a year when he was hired for a summer position at a small Philadelphia-based, animation studio. He then spent four years in the Navy during the Vietnam War before working for Jack Zander, at Zander’s Animation Parlour in New York. Dean Yeagle subsequently worked in New York as a designer, animator, and eventually director at one of the largest studios. In 1986, he partnered with Nany Beiman to found Caged Beagle Productions Inc., a full-service animation studio. Serving as the company's president, he produced, directed, designed and animated countless commercials and CD-ROMs for clients across the United States and Europe. In 2003, Dean Yeagle was named Animator of the Year by the National Cartoonist Society. He also works on creating character designs commissioned by companies for various products, on a children’s books series, occasionally on toys, and on illustrations for Playboy Magazine.
