Jim Davis (cartoonist)
| Jim Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Robert Davis July 28, 1945 Marion, Indiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Cartoonist |
| Known for | Garfield comic strip (1978-present) |
| Parents | James William Davis (father) Betty (mother) |
James Robert Davis (born July 28, 1945) is a U.S. cartoonist who created the comic strip Garfield which he signs as Jim Davis. Other comics that he has worked on include Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, U.S. Acres (aka Orson's Farm) and a strip about Mr. Potato Head. He has written (or in some cases co-written) all of the Emmy-award winning or -nominated Garfield TV specials and was also one of the producers behind the Garfield & Friends TV show which aired on CBS from 1988 to 1995. More recently, Davis is the writer and executive producer of a trilogy of C.G.-direct-to-video feature films about Garfield, as well as one of the executive producers and the creator for the new C.G.-animated TV series The Garfield Show.
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[edit] Personal life
Davis was born in Marion, Indiana, in 1945,[1] and grew up on a small farm in Fairmount, Indiana, with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon is a cartoonist, who also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity.
Ironically, considering his fame as a cartoonist who draws a cat, Davis' first wife Carolyn (Altekruse) was allergic to cats[2] although they owned a dog named Molly.[3] They have a son, James Alexander Davis.[2][4] On July 16, 2000, Davis married his current wife Jill. They have three children: James, Ashley and Christopher.[3]
Davis resides in Albany, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his Paws, Inc. company, launched in 1981. Paws, Inc. employs nearly 50 artists and licensing administrators, who work with agents around the world managing Garfield's vast licensing, syndication, and entertainment empire.
Davis is a former President of the Fairmount, Indiana, Future Farmers of America chapter.[5]
[edit] Career
Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for a local advertising agency and in 1969 began assisting Tom Ryan's comic strip, Tumbleweeds. He then created a comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, that ran for five years in The Pendleton Times, an Indiana newspaper. Davis tried to sell it to a national comic strip syndicate, but an editor told him, "Your art is good, your gags are great, but bugs — nobody can relate to bugs!"
On June 19, 1978, Garfield started syndication in forty-one news-papers. Things were going well until the Chicago Sun-Times cancelled the strip, prompting an outcry from 1300 readers. Garfield was reinstated and the strip quickly became the fastest selling comic strip in the world. Today it is syndicated in 2400 news-papers and is read by approximately 200,000,000 readers each day.
In the 1988-1994 cartoon series Garfield and Friends, one episode ("Mystic Manor") has a scene where Garfield slid down a fireman's pole in a haunted house, and Davis has a brief cameo as himself drawing a cartoon.
In the 1980s, Davis also made the barn-yard slap-stick comic strip U.S. Acres, featuring Orson the Pig. Outside the U.S., the strip was known as Orson's Farm. Davis also made a 2000-2003 strip based on the toy Mr. Potato Head with Brett Koth.
In 2005, Davis appeared in the music video "Lazy Muncie", a parody of the Saturday Night Live video "Lazy Sunday".
Most recently, Jim Davis founded The Professor Garfield Foundation, to support children’s literacy.
[edit] Awards
| Year | Award | Presenting Organization |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Best Humor Strip Cartoonist 1 | National Cartoonist Society |
| 1983-84 | Emmy Award, Outstanding Animated Program, Garfield on the Town TV special, CBS | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| 1984-85 | Emmy Award, Outstanding Animated Program, Garfield in the Rough TV special, CBS | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| 1985 | Elzie Segar Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cartooning | National Cartoonist Society |
| 1985-86 | Emmy Award, Outstanding Animated Program, Garfield's Halloween Adventure TV special, CBS | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| 1986 | Best Humor Strip Cartoonist 2 | National Cartoonist Society |
| 1988-89 | Emmy Award, Outstanding Animated Program, Garfield's Babes and Bullets, TV special, CBS | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| 1988 | Sagamore of the Wabash | State of Indiana |
| 1989 | Reuben Award for Overall Excellence in Cartooning | National Cartoonist Society |
| 1989 | Indiana Arbor Day Spokesman Award (Presented to Jim Davis and Garfield) | Indiana Division of Natural Resources and Forestry |
| 1990 | Good Steward Award, (Presented to Jim Davis and Garfield) | National Arbor Day Foundation |
| 1991 | Indiana Journalism Award (Presented to Jim Davis and Garfield) | Ball State University Department of Journalism |
| 1992 | Distinguished Hoosier Award | State of Indiana |
| 1995 | Project Award | National Arbor Day Foundation |
| 1997 | LVA Leadership Award (Presented to Paws) | Literacy Volunteers of America |
[edit] References
- ^ De Weyer, Geert (2008) (in Dutch). 100 stripklassiekers die niet in je boekenkast mogen ontbreken. Amsterdam / Antwerp: Atlas. p. 214. ISBN 9789045009964.
- ^ a b "Those Catty Cartoonists," Time magazine, Dec. 07, 1981; available online at Time magazine website.
- ^ a b Jim Davis at Everything2.com
- ^ NNDB profile, accessed March 15, 2008
- ^ "National FFA Organization Prominent Members", National F.F.A. Organization (PDF)
- Kim Campbell, Director of Public Relations, Paws, Inc.
- Bruce McCabe, "The Man Who Put Garfield On Top", The Boston Globe, March 8, 1987.
