Saxon, Charles, 1920-1988

Charles David Saxon (1920-1988) was an American cartoonist and illustrator. He is most famous for the many cartoons he did for The New Yorker magazine, including 92 cover illustrations.

A graduate of Columbia University while still in his teens, the Brooklyn native began his professional career as editor of the magazine Ballyhoo . Saxon left his next gig at Dell Publishing for service during World War II, where he saw action as a bomber pilot in Europe. It was after the War, in 1943, that Saxon had his first cartoon published in The New Yorker . He joined the staff there in 1956 and went on to produce 725 cartoons for the magazine during his long career. Saxon also did a significant amount of advertising work for a wide range of clients-American Airlines, Chivas Regal, Kodak, Hertz, Metropolitan Life. His work has appeared in virtually every major magazine outlet in the U.S.

Saxon received numerous honors over the course of his career-awards from the Society of Illustrators, a Gold Medal from the Art Directors Club of New York and an honorary degree from Hamilton College (N.Y.) in 1972. In 1980, he received the National Cartoonists Society's prestigious Reuben Award. There are currently three published collections of Charles Saxon's cartoons: Oh, Happy, Happy, Happy! (1960), One Man's Fancy (1970) and Honesty Is One of the Better Policies (1984).