Mort Walker
| Mort Walker | |
|---|---|
 Walker in April 2016 | |
| Born | Addison Morton Walker (1923-09-03)September 3, 1923 El Dorado, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | January 27, 2018(2018-01-27) (aged 94) Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Artist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Addison |
Notable works | Beetle Bailey Hi and Lois |
| Awards | full list |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Suffill (m. 1949; divorce 1985) Catherine Prentice (m. 1985; his death 2018) |
| Signature | |
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Addison Morton Walker (September 3, 1923 – January 27, 2018) was an American comic strip writer, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips Beetle Bailey in 1950 and Hi and Lois in 1954. He signed Addison to some of his strips.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Comic strips
3 Books
4 Exhibitions
5 Awards
6 Personal life and death
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
Early life
Walker was born in El Dorado, Kansas, as the third of four children in the family. His siblings were Peggy W. Harman (1915–2012), Robin Ellis Walker (1918–2013) and Marilou W. White (b. 1927).[1] After a couple of years, his family moved to Amarillo, Texas,[2] and later to Kansas City, Missouri, in late 1927,[2][3] where his father, Robin Adair Walker (d. 1951),[4][5][6] was an architect, while his mother, Carolyn Richards Walker (d. 1970),[5][6][7] worked as a newspaper staff illustrator.[8] He was of Scottish, Irish, and English descent. One of his ancestors was a doctor aboard the Mayflower.[9]
During his elementary school years, he drew for a student newspaper.[8] He attended Northeast High School, where he was a cheerleader, school newspaper editor, yearbook art editor, stage actor in a radio show and ran neighborhood teen center that belonged to several organizations.[5] He had his first comic published at age 11 and sold his first cartoon at 12.[10] At age 14, he regularly sold gag cartoons to Child's Life, Flying Aces, and Inside Detective magazines.[3] When he was 15, he drew a comic strip, The Lime Juicers, for the weekly Kansas City Journal, and working as a staff artist the same time for an industrial publisher.[5] At age 18, he was the chief editorial designer for Hallmark Brothers (later Hallmark Cards) and was instrumental in changing the company's card from cuddly bears to gag cartoons, which is more suitable for soldiers.[1][11]
Graduating from Northeast High School, he attended one year at Kansas City Junior College in 1942–43[12] before going to the University of Missouri. Walker's physical presence in Columbia is noted by The Shack, which was a rambling burger joint behind Jesse Hall on Conley Avenue. Images resembling the interior of the shack appeared in Beetle Bailey cartoons and is mentioned by name in the September 14, 1950 Beetle Bailey strip.[13] Walker visited the Shack on return trips to Columbia with the last being to the original structure in 1978. The Shack was destroyed in a fire in 1988 and Walker returned in 2010 for dedication of a replica of the building in the student center with dining area now formally called "Mort's".[12][14] A life-sized bronze statue of Beetle Bailey stands in front of the alumni center which is near The Shack.[15]
In 1943, Walker was drafted into the United States Army and served in Italy, where he was an intelligence and investigating officer and was also in charge of an Allied camp for 10,000 German POWs.[6][10] After the war he was posted to Italy where he was in charge of an Italian guard company.[16] He was discharged as a first lieutenant in 1947.[16] He graduated in 1948 from the University of Missouri, where he was the editor and art director of the college's humor magazine, Showme, and was president of the local Kappa Sigma chapter.[3]
Comic strips
After graduation, Walker went to New York to pursue a career in cartooning. He began doing Spider, a one-panel series for The Saturday Evening Post, about a lazy, laid-back college student.[17] When he decided he could make more money doing a multi-panel comic strip, Spider morphed into Beetle Bailey, eventually distributed by King Features Syndicate to 1,800 newspapers in more than 50 countries for a combined readership of 200 million daily.[18]
In 1954, Walker and Dik Browne teamed to launch Hi and Lois, a spin-off of Beetle Bailey (Lois was Beetle's sister).[17] Under the pseudonym "Addison", Walker began Boner's Ark in 1968.[17] Other comic strips created by Walker include Gamin and Patches,[19]Mrs. Fitz's Flats, The Evermores (with Johnny Sajem),[20]Sam's Strip, and Sam and Silo (the last two with Jerry Dumas).[3]
In 1974, Walker opened the Museum of Cartoon Art, the first museum devoted to the art of comics.[21] It was initially located in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Rye Brook, New York, before moving to Boca Raton, Florida, in 1992.[21]
During his life he drew special drawings for individuals, in particular for those who were ill.[21]
From previous marriages, Walker and his wife, Catherine, had ten children between them.[10] Walker's sons Brian and Greg Walker produce the Hi and Lois strip with Chance Browne.[22]
Books
In addition to books about comics and children's books, Walker has collected his strips into 92 "Beetle Bailey" paperbacks and 35 "Hi and Lois" paperbacks, plus writing his autobiography, Mort Walker's Scrapbook: Celebrating a Life of Love and Laughter.[3]
In his book The Lexicon of Comicana (1980), written as a satirical look at the devices cartoonists use, Walker invented a vocabulary called Symbolia.[17] For example, Walker coined the term "squeans" to describe the starbusts and little circles that appear around a cartoon's head to indicate intoxication.[10] The typographical symbols that stand for profanities, which appear in dialogue balloons in the place of actual dialogue, Walker called "grawlixes".[10]
In 2006, he launched a 24-page magazine, The Best of Times, distributed free throughout Connecticut and available online.[3] It features artwork, puzzles, editorial cartoons, ads, and a selection of articles, comics and columns syndicated by King Features.[17] His son, Neal Walker, was the editor and publisher. Between 2006 and 2010, they published 27 issues.[23]
Exhibitions
In September 2000, the University of Missouri staged a Beetle Bailey 50th-anniversary exhibition in the grand concourse of the Elmer Ellis Library, displaying original daily and Sunday strips, published reprints and poster-size lithographs of selected strips.[24]
Awards
In 1974, Walker founded the National Cartoon Museum, and in 1989 was inducted into its Museum of Cartoon Art Hall of Fame.[3] He received the Reuben Award of 1953 for Beetle Bailey, the National Cartoonists Society's Humor Strip Award for 1966 and 1969, the Gold T-Square Award in 1999, the Elzie Segar Award for 1977 and 1999, and numerous other awards.[25] In 1978, Walker received the American Legion's Fourth Estate Award, and in 2000, he was given the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service by the United States Army.[26]
Walker received the Sparky Award for lifetime achievement from the Cartoon Art Museum at the 2010 New York Comic Con.[17] On September 29, 2017, Walker was honored at Yankee Stadium, during the 7th-inning stretch, for his service in World War II.[27]
Personal life and death
Walker was married in 1949 to his first wife, Jean Suffill, whom he had met during his time at the University of Missouri. They had seven children: Greg, Brian, Polly, Morgan, Marjorie, Neal, and Roger.[6][8][28] The marriage later ended in a divorce in 1985. His second wife was Catherine Prentice, whom he married on August 24, 1985. Walker had three step-children via Cathy and her previous marriage.[6][29]
Walker died from complications of pneumonia on January 27, 2018, at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. He was 94 years old.[8][10] He was interred at Willowbrook Cemetery in Westport, Connecticut.[30]
Notes
^ ab Bahrampour, Ali (27 January 2018). "Mort Walker, whose 'Beetle Bailey' was a comic-page staple for decades, dies at 94". Stars and Stripes..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ ab Walker 2000, p. 3.
^ abcdefg "'Beetle Bailey' Cartoonist Mort Walker Dies at 94". Stamford Advocate. January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ Walker 2005, p. xv.
^ abcd Reynolds 2003, p. 157.
^ abcde "Mort Walker, Whose 'Beetle Bailey' Was A Comic-Page Staple For Decades, Dies at 94". NDTV. 28 January 2018.
^ Walker 2005, p. xvi.
^ abcd Goldstein, Richard (27 January 2018). "Mort Walker, Creator of 'Beetle Bailey' Comic Strip, Dies at 94". The New York Times.
^ Walker 2000, p. 2.
^ abcdef Bahrampour, Ali (January 27, 2018). "Mort Walker, whose 'Beetle Bailey' was a comic-page staple for decades, dies at 94". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ "Addio a Mort Walker, il papà di Beetle Bailey". Los Paziobianco. January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ ab "Mort Walker on the MU Campus". muarchives.missouri.edu.
^ "The Shack".
^ Dalton, Warren. "The Shack is gone but lives on".
^ "Beetle Bailey statue". Muarchives. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ ab p.35 Anderson, Captain John D. & Walker, Mort Mort Walker: Conversations Univ. Press of Mississippi, January 28, 2005
^ abcdef "'Beetle Bailey' Creator Mort Walker Dies". Wichita Eagle. January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ Spider Archived October 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ Gamin and Patches at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016.
^ "Newswatch: Evermores Debut," The Comics Journal #73 (July 1982).
^ abc Charla, Steve. "The International Museum of Cartoon Art". www.awn.com. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
^ " On today's comics page in The Advocate and Greenwich Time, Beetle Bailey offers a salute along with the likes of Hi and Lois...which is produced by Walker's sons Brian and Greg Walker and Chance Browne, the son of the late comics legend Dik Browne". Mort Walker and Jason Whiton Mort Walker : conversations, Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2005.
ISBN 1578066999 (p. 193)
^ The Best of Times Archived April 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Mort Walker on the MU Campus". University of Missouri. January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ "National Cartoonists Society Awards". Reuben. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ "Syracuse University: Mort Walker Papers". Syracuse University. September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
^ "Morton of the Military". News From me. September 29, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
^ Walker 2005, p. xiv.
^ Walker 2005, p. xvii.
^ Memories of Mort Walker
References
Reynolds, Moria Davison (2003). Comic Strip Artists in American Newspapers, 1945–1980 (Illustrated ed.). McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-48150-7.
Walker, Mort (2000). Mort Walker's Private Scrapbook: Celebrating a Life of Love and Laughter (Illustrated ed.). Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-0-740-71126-8.
Walker, Mort (2005). Mort Walker: Conversations (Illustrated ed.). Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-578-06700-8.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mort Walker. |
- Official website
'Beetle Bailey' cartoonist Mort Walker dies at 94 from Toons Mag- National Cartoonists Society: Mort Walker
Mort Walker Papers 1950-1968 at Syracuse University (primary source material)
Mort Walker Collection at University of Missouri (primary source material)
"Connecticut Talent". Connecticut Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
"The Mort Walker Interview". The Comics Journal (297). Online excerpts from print interview. April 13, 2009. Archived from the original on August 18, 2009.
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