An American producer and animator, of Syrian origin. His father is the artist Ibrahim Abboud Hanna, who was born in the village of Habnimra, which is located in the Syrian city of Homs. William was born in the state of New Mexico, in the United States. He studied journalism and structural engineering at Compton College, in California, but he was forced to leave school with the onset of the Great Depression. At the beginning of 1931, William worked as a painter for a production company in cooperation with Joseph Barbera, who established a film studio called Hanna-Barbera with him, and they achieved great success through the Tom & Jerry film series.