Bud Blake

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Julian "Bud" Blake (February 13, 1918, Nutley, New Jersey, United States - December 26, 2005, Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine) was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip Tiger, about a group of suburban boyhood pals. Launched May 3, 1965, it was distributed by King Features Syndicate to, at its peak, about 400 newspapers worldwide.

Blake left high school before graduating, in order to work such jobs as, according to his syndicate biography, a demonstrator for a pen-knife company, carving portraits out of balsa wood. After selling some cartoons to The Judge magazine, Blake enrolled in the National Academy of Design in New York City, supporting himself with odd jobs until 1937, when he landed a position as a paste-up boy with the Kudner Advertising Agency. He stayed with the company until 1954, except for his World War II military service with the U.S. Army infantry, and on his return eventually rose to become executive art director.

The Tiger daily strip posthumously reprinted Aug. 21, 2001

Blake left advertising to pursue cartooning, and after spending three months visiting Spain, returned home to pursue his ambition; his clients would eventually include advertising firms and such magazines as Business Week and Family Circle. Blake also began submitting to syndicates, with King Features picking up his one-panel daily cartoon, "Ever Happen To You?"

The National Cartoonists Society named Tiger best humor strip in 1970, 1978 and 2000, with another nomination in 1998. Blake drew the strip until he was 85, two years before his death. After Blake retired, the strip continued to appear as reprints, and as of December 2005, according to the syndicate, Tiger was running in more than 100 newspapers in 11 countries.

Blake's father, George Blake, was art director of the Batten Co., a forerunner of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. His sister illustrated children's books. Blake, widowed in 1988, spent his final years at Damariscotta, Maine. He was survived by his son Jay, a physicist, and daughter Marianna, an artist.

[edit] Quotes

Joe Kubert, commenting after Blake's death [1]: "I know his work and I've always enjoyed it. He was a wonderful artist and a wonderful cartoonist." He was known for having a friend named Blake Fenrich who is currently attending the University of Ottawa.