| Mort Drucker | |
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Mort Drucker |
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| Born | Mort Drucker March 22, 1929 (age 82) Brooklyn, New York City, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Artist |
| Notable works | Mad |
| Official website | |
Mort Drucker (b. March 22, 1929) is an American caricaturist and comics artist best known as a decades-long contributor to Mad, specializing in satires on the leading feature films.
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Born in Brooklyn, New York City,[1] Drucker attended Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School. There he met his future wife Barbara, whom he married shortly after her graduation. The couple moved to Long Island where they eventually brought up two daughters, Laurie and Melanie.[2]
Drucker entered the comics field by assisting Bert Whitman on Debbie Dean in 1947 when he was 18. He moved on to do a syndicated newspaper gag panel, The Mountain Boys.[2] He then joined the staff of National Periodical Publications (DC Comics), where he worked as a retoucher. Early in the 1950s, Drucker began doing freelance work.
In the fall of 1956, shortly after the departure of Mad's founding editor Harvey Kurtzman, Drucker found his way to Mad. His debut there coincided with a World Series broadcast, and publisher Bill Gaines told Drucker that if the Brooklyn Dodgers won the game, he would be hired. The Dodgers did win. Capricious though Drucker's alleged audition process may have been, it made for a good anecdote. More than a half century later, Drucker held the longest uninterrupted tenure of any Mad artist.
During the same period, Drucker pursued assignments in television animation, movie poster art and magazine illustration, including covers for Time. His album covers include art for the pop band Bears and the Anthrax album State of Euphoria. In addition to books collecting his own work, he has provided illustrations for numerous books by others, including children's books, humor books and satire. He drew the prop cartoons used in the 1957 Broadway musical comedy, Rumple, starring Gretchen Wyler, Elliot Gould and Eddie Foy, Jr.[2]
He also remained active for DC, illustrating War Stories, among other titles. Beginning in 1959, he spent four years drawing DC's The Adventures of Bob Hope comic book.[2]
In 1962, Drucker teamed with the prolific humor writer Paul Laikin on the highly successful JFK Coloring Book (Kanrom Publishers), which sold 2,500,000 copies.[3][2] His film posters include Universal's American Graffiti (1973).[1]
Between 1984 and 1986, Drucker collaborated with Jerry Dumas on the syndicated daily comic strip Benchley. Set in the White House, it followed the adventures of presidential aide Benchley. Dumas commented, "Nobody ever did a strip about the government. It's a wonderful place to set a strip. There's so much room for humor in the White House."[4]
In 1990, Drucker designed the Supercup for Target. The following year, for the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, Drucker and executive Mitchell Erick created the Frugies (pronounced fru-jees) to promote June as National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month. The campaign included such characters as Lord Mushroom, Pepe L'Pepper, Penelope Pear and Adam Apple.[5]
Mort Drucker's Time covers are in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. He was recognized for his work with the National Cartoonists Society Special Features Award (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988) and its Reuben Award (1987).[6] Drucker was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Boston.
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