Ben Batsford (June 5, 1893 - February 11, 1977) was an American cartoonist. He is best known for a celebrity comic based on the puppet duo Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy.

Biography

Batsford worked for the

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

as an

editorial cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

. He also served in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the War, he moved to

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and became a police reporter. In 1921, he created the strip Billy's Uncle, which was syndicated by George Matthew Adams Service until 1926. After that he joined

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

, where he drew Doings of the Duffs for a while. From 1929 to 1930, he drew Little Annie Rooney, and from 1934 to 1938, he drew Frankie Doodle. In 1939, he drew '' Mortimer and Charlie'', based on

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (né Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen ...

's popular

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

, and in the early 1940s, he illustrated the comic book Helpful Herbert."Ben Batsford

2009-03-20

References

American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists 1893 births Canadian comic strip cartoonists Canadian comics artists 1977 deaths {{comics-artist-stub