Walker, Mort

Mort Walker (1923- ) is an American cartoonist who created the Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois comic strips.

Addison Morton "Mort" Walker was born in Eldorado, Kansas on September 3, 1923 and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. His cartooning career started early; Walker published his first cartoon at age 11 and sold his first cartoon at age 12. For several months, when he was 15, Walker drew a strip for the Kansas City Journal . At 16, Walker worked at Hallmark Cards as a designer.

Walker was drafted into the United States Army as a private in 1943 and as a lieutenant in Italy, he ran a German POW camp. Walker received a degree in English from the University of Missouri in 1948. While in college, Walker edited the Missouri Showme, the campus humor magazine. After graduating, Walker moved to New York and worked as a gag cartoonist as well as a magazine editor for Dell Publishing.

In 1950, Walker landed a contract with King Features Syndicate, selling his idea for the Beetle Bailey comic strip, which was inspired by Walker's fraternity brothers as Beetle was originally a college student before the character enlisted in the Army in 1951. According to King Features, it was the "last strip personally approved by William Randolph Hearst." Walker's relationship with King Features continued with the creation of the Beetle Bailey spin-off, Hi and Lois with Dik Browne in 1954; Mrs. Fitz's Flats (1957-1972) with Frank Roberge; Sam's Strip (1961-1963) with Jerry Dumas (a comic strip about comics); and The Evermores with Johnny Sajem; Boner's Ark (1968 to 2000 under the name Addison); Sam and Silo ; Betty Boop and Friends (1984-1988) and Gamin and Patches (1987-88).

Walker is a member and past president (1959-1960) of the National Cartoonists Society and compiled the NCS annual album. He has been honored by his peers on numerous occasions, receiving the Reuben Award (1953), Best Humor Strip (1966, 1969), and Silver (1961) and Gold (1999) T-Square awards and two Elzie Segar awards from the National Cartoonists Society. He was inducted into the NCS Hall of Fame in 2006 and He received the Banshee award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (1955). His work has also been recognized by military organizations. The American Legion honored Walker with their Fourth Estate award in 1978. In 2000, the United States Army presented Walker with the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service.

Walker's work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1992 the University of Missouri erected a life-size statue of Beetle Bailey and in September of 2000 staged an exhibition for the 50th anniversary of Beetle Bailey . Walker has also written children's books (several of which were illustrated by Dik Browne), and in 1974 he founded the International Museum of Cartoon Art with Jim Ivey.

Walker continues to oversee the work on his strips produced out of his Connecticut studio. As of 2010, Walker's sons, Greg (a graduate of Syracuse University) and Brian, currently write Hi and Lois and Greg's name appears alongside his father's on Beetle Bailey . Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois are syndicated in thousands of newspapers in dozens of countries.

From the guide to the Mort Walker Papers, 1950-1968, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

Mort Walker was born on Deptember 3, 1923 in El Dorado, Kansas. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Missouri in 1948. Mort Walker is probably best known as a cartoonist. He has been the creator of "Beetle Bailey" since 1950 and "Hi and Lois" since 1954.

Biographical Source: Something About the Author, vol. 8, pp. 211-213.

From the guide to the Mort Walker Papers, 1972, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])