Al Smith (cartoonist)

Al Smith (March 21, 1902 – November 24, 1986) was an American cartoonist whose work included a long run on the comic strip Mutt and Jeff. Comics historian R. C. Harvey postulates that Smith's nearly 50-year run on the strip may be a world record for longevity.[3] Smith (and later his family members) also ran a comic strip syndication service — mainly serving weekly newspapers — from the 1950s until the late 1990s.

Al Smith
BornAlbert Schmidt
(1902-03-21)March 21, 1902[1]
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 24, 1986(1986-11-24) (aged 84)
Rutland, Vermont[2]
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Cartoonist
Notable works
Mutt and Jeff (1932–1980)
Al Smith Feature Service
AwardsNational Cartoonists Society Humor Comic Strip Award, 1968
Spouse(s)Erna Anna Strasser (m. May 25, 1921)[3]
Children3 daughters[3]

Biography

Born Albert Schmidt[3] in Brooklyn, New York, Smith was the art editor for the syndication department of the New York World from 1920 to 1930. From 1920 to 1933, Smith wrote and drew the syndicated cartoon From Nine to Five for the World's syndicate service (it moved to the United Feature Syndicate and ended in 1933).[4]

Bud Fisher appeared to lose all interest in his Mutt and Jeff strip during the 1930s, and after Fisher's assistant Ed Mack died in 1932, the job of creating the strip fell to Al Smith.[5][6] The strip retained Fisher's signature until his death, however, and not until December 7, 1954, was the strip signed by Smith.

In the introduction to Forever Nuts: The Early Years of Mutt & Jeff, comic strip historian Allan Holtz gave the following reason for the strip's longevity and demise:

The strip's waning circulation got a shot in the arm in the 1950s when President Eisenhower sang its praises, and then again in the 1970s when a nostalgia craze swept the nation. It took the 1980s, a decade focused on the here and now, and a final creative change on the strip when even Al Smith had had enough, to finally allow the strip the rest it had deserved for decades.[7]

Smith continued to draw the strip until 1980, when George Breisacher took over for its final two years. Smith also drew the strips Rural Delivery and Cicero's Cat, the topper strip accompanying Mutt and Jeff.

Beginning in 1951, Smith ran his own syndicate, the Al Smith Feature Service, which distributed his own strips — Rural Delivery, Remember When, and The Bumbles[8] — as well as those of other cartoonists. Smith served as president of the National Cartoonists Society in 1967–1969.[3]

In 1980, Smith retired to Rutland, Vermont.[2] He died November 24, 1986.[9]

Awards

Al Smith received the National Cartoonists Society's Humor Comic Strip Award in 1968 for his work on Mutt and Jeff.

Al Smith Feature Service

Smith ran his syndication service — mainly serving weekly newspapers — from 1951 until his 1986 death, at which point it was supplying 25 features.[10] (Early on, the syndicate partnered with the Chicago Tribune.) With his death, management of the service was taken over by two of his daughters, with it lasting until c. 1999. The most successful (or at least longest-running) strips syndicated by the Al Smith Feature Service were Church Chuckles, Deems, Grubby, Pops, Those Were the Days, and Smith's own Rural Delivery.

Al Smith Service strips and panels
  • Buffo by Howard Rands (1989-1991)
  • The Bumbles by Al Smith (1982–1983)
  • Captain Flame by Pat Boyette, Bruce Darrow, and Don Sherwood (1954-1958)
  • Church Chuckles by Charles Cartwright (1959-1997)
  • Citizen George by George Wolfe (1970–1973)
  • Deems by Tom Oka (Tom Okamoto) (1951–1980)[11]
  • George by George Wolfe (1969)
  • Ginger Blue by Al Carreno (1954)
  • Grubby by Warren Sattler (1964–1997)
  • Going West by Frank Thomas (1951-1954)
  • Hossface Hank by Frank Thomas (1955–1964)
  • Inky by Hal Borden (1961-1965)
  • It Just So Happened by Kern Pederson (1978)
  • Jason by Foster Moore (1993-1999)
  • Jest For Laughs by Paul Fung Jr. (1978-1983)
  • Just So Happened by Kern Pederson (1980)
  • Li'l Peanut by Lou Paige (1951)
  • Looking Around by Sid Hathaway (1970)
  • Off Main Street by Joe Dennett (1951-1961)
  • Phrog by George Albitz (1985-1986)
  • Pixel by Frank Hill and Ted Mancuso (1985)
  • Pops by George Wolfe (1962-1978)
  • Remember When by Al Smith (1955)
  • Rural Delivery by Al Smith (1951-1997) — titled "Jackie" in 1951–1952[12]
  • Sonny South by Courtney Alderson 1951-1972 [13]
  • Those Were the Days Art Beeman (1951–1983)

References
  1. Smith, Al. Mutt and Jeff sample with short Al Smith biography.
  2. AP. "Al Smith, Cartoonist, Dead; Drew 'Mutt and Jeff' Comics," The New York Times (November 26, 1986).
  3. Harvey, R. C. "Hare Tonic: Unsung Al Smith, Record-Holding Unknown Cartoonist," The Comics Journal (OCT 14, 2016).
  4. Smith entry, '"Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Accessed Nov. 16, 2018.
  5. Lambiek Comiclopedia. "Bud Fisher".
  6. Lambiek Comiclopedia. "Al Smith".
  7. Forever Nuts: The Early Years of Mutt & Jeff by Bud Fisher, edited by Jeffrey Lindenblatt; ISBN 1-56163-502-2
  8. "Newswatch: Smith Syndicates Own Strip," The Comics Journal #73 (July 1982).
  9. "Today’s Comics Guide: November 24, 2011: Today’s Flashbacks". CBGXtra. November 24, 2011
  10. "35 Years with Mutt and Jeff," Asbury Park Press (June 15, 1968), p. 39.
  11. Holtz, Allan. "Obscurity of the Day: Deems," Stripper's Guide (October 05, 2009).
  12. Holtz, Allan. "Mystery Strips of E&P: Letter J," Stripper's Guide (September 11, 2006).
  13. https://www.lambiek.net/artists/a/alderson_court.htm
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.