Jack Mendelsohn
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Jack Mendelsohn (November 8, 1926 – January 25, 2017) was an American writer-artist who worked in animation, comic strips and comic books. An Emmy-nominated television comedy writer and story editor, he had numerous credits as a TV scripter, including ''
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comed ...
'', '' Three's Company'', ''
The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harv ...
'' and ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
''. Among his work for feature films, he was a co-screenwriter of '' Yellow Submarine'' (1968). In 2004, the Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.


Personal life

His father was an agent for cartoonist-animator
Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–1914; 1924–1927) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...
, and during Mendelsohn's childhood in
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, he was an avid reader of cartoonist Stan MacGovern's off-beat ''
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'' comic strip, ''Silly Milly'', an obvious influence on Mendelsohn's cartoon style. Dropping out of high school, Mendelsohn joined the
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and after
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, he contributed gag cartoons to ''
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'' and other magazines.
Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series '' Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book '' Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and ...
reported Jack Mendelsohn died of lung cancer on the evening of January 25, 2017.


''Jackys Diary''

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, while living in
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, he wrote and drew his innovative comic strip, ''Jackys Diary''. It began January 11, 1959, continuing until 1961. The Sunday-only strip is regarded by many comics buffs as one of King Features most novel and clever humor strips. In Toonopedia, Don Markstein wrote:
It purported to be the hand-illustrated, hand-written diary of a young boy, supposedly Mendelsohn himself in his extreme youth. Thus, it was both written and illustrated as though by a small child—which is not as easy to do as some who have had the misfortune of growing up might think. Week after week, Mendelsohn described trips to the circus, fishing expeditions, visits to members of his extended family, and all sorts of other adventures kids have, in a style simulating that of an actual kid—except, of course, for the fact that it was professionally rendered in every way. Unfortunately, professional work is sometimes best recognized by another professional, or at least by someone who knows what to look for—or at the very least, by someone who could see that this was a spoof, and that childishness was a schtick and not a natural state for Mendelsohn. King Features received complaints from those who didn't "get" it and thought the company was publishing the work of an actual child—or, in the case of those who noticed the byline ("by Jacky Mendelsohn, age ") by an adult whose abilities hadn't progressed since childhood. Often, parents, mistaking the strip's intent, would encourage their own children to send in submissions to what they thought was a kids' participation feature. But that's not why it folded quickly, Mendelsohn said in a later interview. It's simply that a Sunday-only comic is more expensive to produce than a daily, and King just couldn't afford it anymore.
An apostrophe was added to the strip's title when it was reprinted by Dell Comics as ''Jacky's Diary''. Beginning June 2010, ''Jackys Diary'' was carried by King Features' DailyINK, but it was dropped from the DailyINK line-up in 2012. DailyINK's Archivist explained, "Unfortunately, we no longer have the rights to publish the strip." The complete run of the strip was released as a hardcover book in 2014 by
IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
. Mendelsohn ghostwrote for other comic strips, and he also wrote for comic books, notably as a contributor to EC Comics' '' Panic''. In 2014, Mendelsohn received the Bill Finger Award.


Screenwriting credits

* series head writer denoted in bold


Television

*'' Beetle Bailey'' (1963) *''
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'' (1965-1967) *''
George of the Jungle ''George of the Jungle'' is an American animated television series produced and created by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who also created '' The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends''. The character George was inspired by the story of ...
'' (1967) *'' The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show'' (1967) *''
Rowan %26 Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comed ...
'' (1968-1969) *'' The Jim Nabors Hour'' (1969-1970) *''
Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...
'' (1969-1972) *'' Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down'' (1970) *'' Groovie Goolies'' (1970) *''
The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harv ...
'' (1970-1971) *'' The Funky Phantom'' (1971) *'' The Roman Holidays'' (1972) *'' The Flintstone Comedy Hour'' (1972) *''
The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...
'' (1973) *'' Speed Buggy'' (1973) *'' The New Scooby-Doo Movies'' (1973) *'' Yogi%27s Gang'' (1973) *'' Hong Kong Phooey'' (1974) *'' Partridge Family 2200 A.D.'' (1974) *'' Shazam!'' (1974) *'' The Great Grape Ape Show'' (1975) *'' Chico and the Man'' (1975-1976) *'' Doc'' (1976) *'' Wonderbug'' (1976-1977) *'' Carter Country'' (1977) *'' The Skatebirds'' (1977) *'' Wonder Wheels'' (1977-1978) *'' Three%27s Company'' (1978-1979) *''
Hello, Larry ''Hello, Larry'' is an American sitcom television series created by Dick Bensfield and Perry Grant, starring McLean Stevenson. It aired on NBC from January 26, 1979, to April 30, 1980. Its broadcast run consisted of 38 episodes over two seasons. ...
'' (1979-1980) *''
The Flintstone Comedy Show ''The Flintstone Comedy Show'' is an American Saturday-morning cartoon, animated television series revival and spin-off (media), spin-off of ''The Flintstones'' produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on NBC from November 22, 1980, to October 24, ...
'' (1980) *'' Richie Rich'' (1981) *''
The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...
'' (1982) *'' Meatballs %26 Spaghetti'' (1982) *'' Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'' (1983) *'' Paw Paws'' (1986) *'' Dennis the Menace'' (1986) *'' Beverly Hills Teens'' (1987) *''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' (1987-1993): season 1-7 head writer *'' Camp Candy'' (1989-1990) *'' Barnyard Commandos'' (1990) *'' Toxic Crusaders'' (1991) *'' James Bond Jr.'' (1991-1992) *''
Taz-Mania ''Taz-Mania'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation from 1991 to 1995, broadcast in the United States on Fox Kids where it stars the Tasmanian Devil. Similar to other Warner Bros. cartoons of its time, such as ''An ...
'' (1993) *'' The New Adventures of Zorro'' (1997) *'' The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor'' (1998) *'' Ultimate Book of Spells'' (2001) *''
Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series which focuses on the adventures of an 8-year old blonde haired girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a gigantic, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published ...
'' (2002) *'' Gadget %26 the Gadgetinis'' (2003)


Film

*'' Yellow Submarine'' (1968) *'' The Adventures of Robin Hoodnik'' (1972) *'' Gallavants'' (1984) *''Sweet Sea'' (1985)


Sources


Province, John. "Jack of All Trades," interview in ''Hogan's Alley'' #10 (pages 76–84), Summer 2002


References


External links



* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendelsohn, Jack 1926 births 2017 deaths American comics writers American comics artists American humorists American male screenwriters Bill Finger Award winners American male television writers American television writers EC Comics United States Navy personnel of World War II Deaths from lung cancer in the United States