Leo Aloysius Cullum (January 11, 1942 – October 23, 2010) was an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, one of the more frequent contributors to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' with more than 800

gag cartoon A gag cartoon (also panel cartoon, single-panel cartoon, or gag panel) is most often a single-panel cartoon, usually including a caption beneath the drawing. A pantomime cartoon carries no caption. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech bal ...

s published. He started his drawing career after having served as a pilot in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and ...

and flying planes commercially for

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

and

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

. Born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.North Bergen, New Jersey North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a ...

and earned his undergraduate degree in 1963 from the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest i ...

, where he majored in English. He joined the United States Marine Corps after graduating from college, earning a commission as a second Lieutenant. Upon completion of his flight training in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal c ...

, Cullum deployed to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, where he flew more than 200 missions, mostly ground attacks in support of the infantry in addition to attacks on the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

supply lines on the Ho Chi Minh trail in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. Though the missions over Laos were not officially acknowledged, Cullum was baffled by the need for secrecy, saying "the

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

ese certainly knew it wasn't the Swiss bombing them".Grimes, William
"Leo Cullum, New Yorker Cartoonist, Dies at 68"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 25, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2010.

Early cartoons

After completing his military service, Cullum became a pilot for

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

, which was later taken over by

, where he worked until his retirement in 2001. In between flights, he started doodling, continuing his early interest in drawing cartoons. He said, "I bought some instructional books which explained the format, and I began studying the work of various cartoonists". He had always hoped to be published in ''The New Yorker'', which turned down a series of his early entries. The magazine liked some of Cullum's concepts for cartoons, which were turned over to

Charles Addams Charles Samuel Addams (January 7, 1912 – September 29, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for his darkly humorous and macabre characters, signing the cartoons as Chas Addams. Some of his recurring characters became known as the Addams Fa ...

for illustration, with the first of Cullum's ideas appearing in print in 1975 showing a couple paddling in a canoe with their reflection in the water showing a vision of the man attacking the woman. Addams convinced Cullum to pursue his craft, and his first sale was to ''Air Line Pilot Magazine''. He had later cartoons printed in '' Argosy'', '' Saturday Review'' and ''

Sports Afield ''Sports Afield'' (SA) is an American outdoor magazine headquartered in Huntington Beach, California. Founded in 1887 by Claude King as a hunting and fishing magazine, it is the oldest published outdoor magazine in North America. The first issue, ...

''.

''The New Yorker''

Over his career with ''The New Yorker'' the magazine published 819 of his cartoons, many of which involved animals. His first successful entry was published on January 3, 1977, and featured a man wearing a robe at an office desk in a room filled with chickens. A cartoon with the caption "This island isn't big enough for two cliches" showed a school of fish attempting to crawl onto the shore of a desert island populated by a man and a lone palm tree.Cavna, Michael
"In Memoriam: New Yorker cartoonist Leo Cullum's warm and witty legacy"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nat ...

'', October 26, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2010. Cartoon editor

Robert Mankoff Robert Mankoff (born May 1, 1944Wilson, Craig. "Top drawer at 'The New Yorker' Mankoff makes his imprint as cartoon editor," ''USA Today'' (2 October 1997): D, 1:2.) is an American cartoonist, editor, and author. He was the cartoon editor for ''T ...

called him "one of the most popular" cartoonists at ''The New Yorker'' during the 1980s and 1990s and "one of the most consistently funny cartoonists we ever had". Cullum's was the first cartoon included in the first illustrated issue printed after the September 11 attacks, with the caption "I thought I'd never laugh again. Then I saw your jacket." One of his most requested cartoons features a man lecturing a cat with the caption "Never, ever, think outside the

box A box ( plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and ...

".Cullum, Leo
The Cartoon Bank
, ''

'', November 30, 1998. Accessed October 27, 2010. His final published cartoon appeared in the issue dated October 25, 2010.

Books

His published books include collections about doctors and birds, with the respective punny titles of ''Suture Self'' and ''Tequila Mockingbird''.Staff
"New Yorker cartoonist Leo Cullum dies"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, October 26, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2010. Other books featured his cartoons about cats, dogs and business people. A resident of

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

, Cullum died of cancer at the age of 68 on October 23, 2010, at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

.Nelson, Valerie J
"Leo Cullum dies at 68; prolific New Yorker cartoonist: The commercial airline pilot's works lean toward absurd gags and often feature cats and dogs. They also excel at the marriage of image and words."
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', October 28, 2010. Accessed October 27, 2010. He was survived by his wife, Kathy, a former flight attendant who he had met on a flight to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

, as well as by his daughters Kaitlin Cullum and

Kimberly Cullum Kimberly Cullum is an American former child actor, child actress, who had many film and television roles during the 1990s. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Cullum is the daughter of cartoonist Leo Cullum, whose work regularly appeared ...

, both of whom had been

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

References

External links

Postscript: Leo Cullum
memories of

Roz Chast Rosalind Chast (born November 26, 1954) is an American cartoonist and a staff cartoonist for ''The New Yorker''. Since 1978, she has published more than 800 cartoons in ''The New Yorker''. She also publishes cartoons in ''Scientific American'' and ...

The Cartoon Bank
''

''
Vietnam Veterans of America's ''Arts of War on the Web'' appreciation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullum, Leo 1942 births 2010 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City College of the Holy Cross alumni Artists from Los Angeles Artists from Newark, New Jersey People from North Bergen, New Jersey The New Yorker people The New Yorker cartoonists United States Marine Corps officers United States Naval Aviators Deaths from cancer in California Military personnel from New Jersey