Frederick Burr Opper

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Frederick Burr Opper (January 2, 1857 - August 27, 1937). is considered one of the pioneers of U.S. newspaper comic strips and in his time was considered a leader in the creation of comic characters appealing to popular culture. His prototypical characters in magazine gag cartoons and covers, political cartoons, and comic strips amused readers for 58 years. According to a poll of cartoonists taken in the 1930s, Frederick Burr Opper was named the funniest man who ever worked for the American press.

Born to Austrian-American immigrants Lewis and Aurelia Burr Oppers in Madison, Ohio, Frederick was the eldest of three children. At fourteen, he dropped out of public school to work for the local paper, the (seemingly now defunct) Madison Gazette, and at sixteen moved to New York City where he worked in a store and continued to draw. He studied briefly at Cooper Union followed by a short stint as pupil and assistant to illustrator Frank Beard.

Opper's first cartoon was published in Wild Oats in 1876, followed by cartoons and illustrations in Scribner's and St. Nicholas. He worked as illustrator at Frank Leslie's Weekly 1877 to Leslie's death in 1880, at which time Opper was hired on at Puck's by publishers Joseph Keppler and Adolph Schwarzmann where he remained for 18 years, drawing everything from spot illustrations to chromolithograph covers.

Opper married Nellie Barnett on May 18, 1881. They had two children, Lawrence and Sophia.

In 1899, Opper accepted an offer by William Randolph Hearst for a position with the New York Journal. The comic strip, The Happy Hooligan, first appeared on March 11, 1900 and ran until August 14, 1932. Hooligan was a tramp with a little tin can hat whose gentle simplicity and bumbling good nature made him a national hero. Around the same time he also drew influential political cartoons supporting Hearst's campaign against the "trusts" with characters "Willie and Teddy" (depicting William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt), "Willie and his Papa" (satirizing McKinley and "Papa Trusts"), and "Nursie" (a ridiculous depiction of Cleveland industrialist Mark Hanna); as well as other characters including one called Mr. Common Man (which is believed to be the origin of John Q. Public).

Opper's work appeared in Hearst's New York Journal, Boston American, Chicago Examiner, San Francisco Examiner, and Los Angeles Examiner. In addition to The Happy Hooligan, his other famous strips included Alphonse and Gaston, And Her Name Was Maud, Howsan Lott, and Our Antediluvian Ancestors.

Opper also illustrated works for Bill Nye, Mark Twain and Finley Peter Dunne, and published his own books including Puck's Opper Book (1888), The Folks in Funnyville (1900), and Happy Hooligan Home Again (1907). He was a member of several New York clubs and he painted as a hobby.

Due to failing eyesight, Opper retired in 1934 and he died at home in New Rochelle, New York.

Cited: <http://cartoons.osu.edu/newspaper_artists/opper/Opper_bio.html> and <http://wwwa.britannica.com/ebi/article-9332021>