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Mort Walker

Born

in El Dorado, Kansas, The United States

September 03, 1923

Died

January 27, 2018

Website

http://www.mortwalker.com/

Genre

Comics & Graphic Novels

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Addison Morton Walker, more popularly known as Mort Walker, was an American comic artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips Beetle Bailey in 1950 and Hi and Lois in 1954.

Born in El Dorado, Kansas, he grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He had his first comic published at the age of 11, and sold his first cartoon at 12. At 15 he worked as a comic-strip artist for a daily newspaper and by 18 he became chief editorial designer at Hall Brothers. After graduating from Northeast High School in the Kansas City, Missouri School District, he attended the University of Missouri, where a life size bronze statue of Beetle Bailey sits in front of the alumni center.

In 1943 he was drafted into the United States Army where he spent time in E Addison Morton Walker, more popularly known as Mort Walker, was an American comic artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips Beetle Bailey in 1950 and Hi and Lois in 1954.

Born in El Dorado, Kansas, he grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He had his first comic published at the age of 11, and sold his first cartoon at 12. At 15 he worked as a comic-strip artist for a daily newspaper and by 18 he became chief editorial designer at Hall Brothers. After graduating from Northeast High School in the Kansas City, Missouri School District, he attended the University of Missouri, where a life size bronze statue of Beetle Bailey sits in front of the alumni center.

In 1943 he was drafted into the United States Army where he spent time in Europe during World War II. He was discharged as a First Lieutenant four years later. After military service and graduation from University of Missouri in 1948, where he was president of the local Kappa Sigma chapter[1], he went to New York to pursue his cartooning career. His first 200 cartoons were rejected, but he was slowly gaining recognition among the editors for his talent. His big break came with Beetle Bailey and another success followed with Hi and Lois. Other noteworthy cartoons he has created include Boner's Ark, Gamin & Patches, Mrs. Fitz's Flats, The Evermores, Sam's Strip and Sam & Silo (the last two with Jerry Dumas).

After more than 50 years in the business, Mort Walker still supervises the daily work at his studio, which also employs 6 of his children.

In 1974 he founded The National Cartoon Museum, and in 1989 he was inducted into the Museum of Cartoon Art Hall of Fame. He received the Reuben Award of 1953 for Beetle Bailey, the National Cartoonist Society Humor Strip Award for 1966 and 1969, the Gold T-Square Award in 1999, the Elzie Segar Award for 1977 and 1999, and numerous other awards for his work and dedication to the art.

In his book The Lexicon of Comicana (1980), written as a satirical look at the devices cartoonists use in their craft, Walker invented a cartoon vocabulary called Symbolia. For example, Walker coined the term "squeans" to describe the starbusts and little circles that appear around a cartoon's head to indicate intoxication. The typographical symbols that stand for profanities, which appear in dialogue balloons in the place of actual dialogue, Walker called "grawlixes."
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Mort Walker’s books

Average rating: 3.99 · 1,613 ratings · 205 reviews · 407 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Lexicon of Comicana 4.22 avg rating — 73 ratings — published 1980 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best of Beetle Bailey 4.17 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 1984 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sam's Strip: The Comic About Comics 3.70 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 2008 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beetle Bailey: The First Years: 1950-1952 3.89 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	At Ease, Beetle Bailey (Beetle Bailey Books) 3.84 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 1970 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fall Out Laughing Beetle Bailey 3.85 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 1969 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beetle Bailey: The Daily & Sunday Strips, 1965 by Mort Walker, Brian Walker 4.09 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What Is It Now, Beetle Bailey 3.65 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 1971 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beetle Bailey 3.80 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 1968 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Backstage at the strips 4.15 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 1975 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mort Walker…

Series by Mort Walker

Beetle Bailey: The Daily & Sunday Strips (2 books)
by

Mort Walker,

Stan Lee

4.15 avg rating — 55 ratings

Hi and Lois (6 books)
by

Mort Walker,

Dik Browne

4.67 avg rating — 15 ratings

Knasen: Den kompletta samlingen strippar och söndagsstrippar (2 books)
by

Mort Walker,

Alf Thorsjö (Editor),

Janne Lundström,

Mikael Burman,

Christer Follin (Translator)

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings

Sarjakirja (1 book)
by

Mort Walker

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating

Sarjakirja (1 book)
by

Mort Walker

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating

More series by Mort Walker…

Quotes by Mort Walker (?)

“Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of your heart.
”
― Mort Walker

10 likes

“Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of your heart. Seven days without laughter makes one weak.”
― Mort Walker

7 likes

“Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of the heart.”
― Mort Walker

4 likes

See all Mort Walker's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

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What's the Name o...: ABANDONED. picture book 70s or 80s about a land where lost things go.	7	543	Nov 13, 2018 11:30PM
Book Nook Cafe: Obituaries ~ 2018	334	71	Dec 23, 2018 09:27AM
Biography, Autobi...: RIP 2018	254	61	Jan 02, 2019 11:00AM
The Bookworm Chal...: Graphic Novels	19	31	Apr 12, 2019 11:42AM
The Bookworm Chal...: BONUS CHALLENGE- A to Z by Author Last Name	22	44	Dec 01, 2019 05:31PM
Mount TBR Challen...: Climbing slowly upwards this year	13	24	Apr 03, 2023 09:54AM
I Read Comic Books: 2023 Recommended Reading Challenge - Progress Thread	23	83	Dec 13, 2023 04:20PM

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Mort Walker’s Followers (18)

Mort Walker

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Combine Editions
Mort Walker’s books