Fred Rhoads (October 17, 1921 – February 26, 2000) 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 an ...
best known for his contributions to George Baker's ''
Sad Sack
''Sad Sack'' is an American comic strip and comic book character created by Sgt. George Baker during World War II. Set in the United States Army, ''Sad Sack'' depicted an otherwise unnamed, lowly private experiencing some of the absurdities an ...
''.
Born in
Shamokin, Pennsylvania
Shamokin (; Saponi Algonquian ''Schahamokink'', meaning "place of eels") ( Lenape Indian language: Shahëmokink) is a city in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Surrounded by Coal Township at the western edge of the Anthracite ...
, Rhoads studied illustration in New York from 1940 to 1942, at which time he joined the
U.S. 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 com ...
to serve during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. He drew the ''Gismo and Eight Ball'' cartoon series in the Marine's ''
Leatherneck Magazine
''Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines'' (or simply ''Leatherneck'') is a magazine for United States Marines.
History and profile
''The Quantico Leatherneck'' was started by off-duty US Marines, and in large part by the post printer, Sgt. Smith, ...
''. He also assisted several cartoonists, including
Mort Walker
Addison Morton Walker (September 3, 1923 – January 27, 2018) was an American comic strip writer, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips ''Beetle Bailey'' in 1950 and '' Hi and Lois'' in 1954. He signed Addison to some of his strip ...
(''
Beetle Bailey
''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...
''),
Jimmy Hatlo
James Cecil Hatlo (September 1, 1897 – December 1, 1963), better known as Jimmy Hatlo, was an American cartoonist who in 1929 created the long-running comic strip and gag panel ''They'll Do It Every Time'', which he wrote and drew until his d ...
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance'', is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appearin ...
'').
In 1954, Harvey Comics and Baker brought in Paul McCarthy to draw the ''Sad Sack'' titles, followed by Rhoads, Jack O'Brien and Joe Dennett. Others who periodically drew for the titles included
Warren Kremer
Warren Kremer (June 26, 1921 – July 24, 2003)Warren Kremer at the
Rhoads, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died February 20, 2000, in
Greenwood, South Carolina
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Greenwood County, South Carolina, United States. The population in the 2020 United States Census was 22,545 down from 23,222 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Lander University.
Geography and ...