Jimmy Murphy (cartoonist)

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James Edward Murphy, Jr. (aka Jimmy Murphy) (November 20, 1891–March 9, 1965) was an American cartoonist best known for his long-run family comic strip, Toots and Casper.

Born in Chicago, Murphy briefly attended Creighton University in Omaha. After freelancing for Omaha newspapers, he drew political cartoons for the Spokane Inland-Herald, the Portland Oregon Journal, the San Francisco Call and Post and finally the New York American where he created the short-lived Doc Attaboy.

In 1918, he began to draw Toots and Casper for the American, using his wife, Matilda Katherine Murphy, as the model for Toots. The strip was picked up by King Features Syndicate in 1919 and remained a popular favorite for decades with the daily running until 1951 and the Sunday strip continuing until 1956. In 1934, he started including collectible stamp-like images in his Sunday comics. These were so popular that they were subsequently imitated by many other cartoonists.

Beginning in 1926, he drew a Sunday comic strip, It's Papa Who Pays, but this has remained obscure.

Murphy died in Beverly Hills, California.

[edit] References

Goulart, Ron (ed.). Encyclopedia of American Comics. New York: Facts on File, 1990.