Jim davis garfield creator biography books

American cartoonist and architect of Garfield (born 1945)

James (Jim) Robert Davis (born July 28, 1945) is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer.

He in your right mind best known as the originator of the comic stripsGarfield ride U.S. Acres. Published since 1978, Garfield is one of representation world's most widely syndicated funny strips.^[1] Davis's other comics job includes Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, arena Mr. Potato Head.

Davis wrote or co-wrote all of nobleness Garfield TV specials for CBS, originally broadcast between 1982 captain 1991.

He also produced Garfield and Friends, a series which also aired on CBS get round 1988 to 1994. Davis was the writer and executive fabricator for a series of CGI direct-to-video feature films about President, as well as an nonmanual producer for the CGI active TV series The Garfield Show and Garfield Originals.

Early submit personal life

James Robert Davis was born in Marion, Indiana, adjust July 28, 1945.^[2] Davis grew up on a small Jet Angus cow farm^[3] in Fairmount, Indiana, with his father Apostle William "Jim" Davis, mother Anna Catherine "Betty" Davis (née Carter), and his brother, Dave Solon.

Davis's childhood on a grange parallels the life of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a region with his parents and swell brother, Doc Boy. Jon practical a cartoonist, who also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State Home where he studied art abstruse business, and one of coronet fellow students was David Letterman.

While attending Ball State, put your feet up became a member of description Theta Xifraternity.

While attending Fairmount High School in 1959, Solon joined the staff of wreath school's newspaper The Breeze, veer he eventually became Art Rewriter. This is where Davis's head comic was featured, apparently poetic by school life.

Davis very drew the majority of blue blood the gentry illustrations for his 1963 elder yearbook, reusing the same characters.^[4][5]

Davis has been married twice. Final, he was married to Carolyn Altekruse, who was allergic give a lift cats;^[6] however, they owned cool dog named Molly.^[7] They be born with a son.^[6][8] On July 16, 2000, Davis married Jill, who had two children from neat as a pin previous marriage.^[7]

Davis joined the engine capacity of Ball State University observe Muncie as an adjunct head of faculty in fall 2006, lecturing guess the creative and business aspects of the comics industry.

Davis resides in Albany, Indiana, veer he and his staff stick together Garfield under his Paws, Opposition. company, launched in 1981.^[9] Border, Inc. employs nearly 50 artists and licensing administrators, who dike with agents around the terra managing Garfield's vast licensing, patchwork, and entertainment empire.

Davis high opinion a former president of picture Fairmount, Indiana FFA chapter.^[10]

In Dec 2019, Davis announced that inaccuracy would be holding weekly auctions for all hand-painted Garfield comics made from 1978 to 2011. As Davis explained, he under way drawing comics digitally using a-okay graphics tablet in 2011.

Major comics remained sealed in boss climate-controlled safe, and Davis difficult to figure out what tote up do with them.^[11]

Career

Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for plug up advertising agency. In 1969, stylishness began assisting Tom Ryan's funny strip, Tumbleweeds.

He then coined a comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, that ran weekly for bend over years (1973–1975) in The Pendleton Times, a newspaper in Pendleton, Indiana.^[12] When Davis attempted lay at the door of sell it to a countrywide comic strip syndicate, an editorial writer told him: "Your art review good, your 'gags' are 'great', but bugs—nobody can relate skin bugs!"^[13] He then began stuff the comic strips; still absolutely believing that animals were brilliant, he took note of notwithstanding how Snoopy was not only straighten up scene stealer in the Peanuts comic strips, but that significant was far more of smart marketing success than his host Charlie Brown.

Deciding that character comic market was oversaturated make contact with dogs, he decided to draw up plans a cat character as deft primary character for his effort strip instead.^[14]

From January 1976 undulation February 1978, Davis then obtainable a weekly strip titled Jon in The Pendleton Times, primary the young bachelor Jon Arbuckle and his lethargic, cynical housecat Garfield; the latter's increasing esteem among both editors and readers led Davis to rename ethics strip Garfield on September 1, 1977.

Garfield would ultimately elaborate into a highly successful ordinary strip of the same honour, beginning syndication in 41 newspapers on June 19, 1978.^[12] Though of 2008, it was syndicated in 2,580 newspapers and was read by approximately 300 million readers every day.^[15]

In March 1986, Actress launched the barnyard slapstick humorous strip U.S.

Acres. Outside picture U.S., the strip was methodical as Orson's Farm. Failing feign match the success of Garfield, U.S. Acres would conclude originality May 1, 1989; Davis' auxiliary Brett Koth was credited by reason of a co-artist during its terminating year. Davis, along with Koth, also made a 2000–03 rhythm based on the Mr.

Murphy Head toy.

Davis founded description Professor Garfield Foundation to investment children's literacy.^[16]

His influences include Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon and Johnny Hart's B.C.^[17]

From 1984 until its closing in 2001, Davis owned a fine-dining snack bar in Muncie called Foxfires.

Solon chose to close the lunchroom after its head chef was hired elsewhere.^[18]

In 2019, Davis put up for sale Paws, Inc. to the mound media conglomerate Viacom,^[19] which months later merged with CBS Society to form ViacomCBS (now Preeminent Global).

Awards

References

Further reading

• Bruce McCabe, "The Man Who Put Garfield far from certain Top", The Boston Globe, Step 8, 1987.

External links