Born in Watertown, CT; raised in New York City. Pintoff started out as a jazz trumpeter and later taught painting and design at Michigan State University. In 1956 he joined UPA as an animator and two years later set up his own animation studio. A highly original comic cartoonist, he turned out many entertaining animation shorts for theatrical presentation and for television, as well as TV commercials. In 1965 he directed, wrote, and co-produced his first live-action feature, HARVEY MIDDLEMAN - FIREMAN. He was associate producer of the Italian film QUESTI FANTASMI / GHOSTS ITALIAN STYLE (1967) and wrote the dialogue for the English-language version of that production. He directed many television episodes for such series as "Hawaii Five-O," "Barnaby Jones," "Kojack," "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The White Shadow," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Knots Landing," "Falconcrest" and "MacGyver" from 1968 until 1985.  Nominated for Short Subjects (Cartoons) 1959: THE VIOLINIST - Producer  Short Subjects (Cartoons) 1963: THE CRITIC - Producer 2 nominations, 1 Award