Thomas Jefferson Machamer (1900 – August 15, 1960) was an American cartoonist and illustrator known especially for his drawings of glamorous women. He also wrote and acted in a series of short comedy films in the 1930s.

Career as an illustrator

Machamer was born in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. After he graduated from the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

he became a staff artist for ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

'' newspaper.Nadel 2006, p. 311. In 1922 he moved to New York City and joined the staff of the humor magazine ''

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

''. From 1928 until 1930 he wrote and drew a comic strip for

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 ...

called ''Petting Patty'', initially as a daily strip and later also as a Sunday color feature. In 1932, his comic strip ''Gags and Gals'' made its debut in the ''New York Mirror''. This strip proved a greater popular success, and ran until 1938. According to Dan Nadel, ''Gags and Gals'' displayed the elements that typified most of Machamer's work: "beautiful dominant women, broad shouldered and impeccably dressed, accompanied by hapless, unattractive men, sometimes short and mustachioed, with just a tuft of hair atop a bald pate—apparently a self portrait." Machamer's style has been compared to that of

Russell Patterson Russell Patterson (December 26, 1893 – March 17, 1977) was an American cartoonist, illustrator and scenic designer. Patterson's art deco magazine illustrations helped develop and promote the idea of the 1920s and 1930s fashion style known as t ...

, who may have influenced him. In 1946, Machamer published a how-to book for aspiring cartoonists, ''Laugh and Draw with Jefferson Machamer''. Beginning in the 1940s, he also operated a correspondence course from his home. He is mentioned in

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was an American writer. He was one of America's most prolific writers of Short story, short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'H ...

's 1935 novel ''

BUtterfield 8 ''BUtterfield 8'' is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same ...

'': "'I'll be over before you can say Jefferson Machamer.' 'Jefferson Machamer,' she said."

Film work

Between 1936 and 1938, Machamer wrote and acted in a series of short comic films made by

Educational Pictures Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882–1962). Educational p ...

, which included ''Comic Artist's Home Life'', ''Wanna Be a Model?'', and ''Cute Crime''.

Personal life

From 1934 until his death he was married to the actress Pauline Moore."Pauline Moore, 87; Acted With Roy Rogers"
December 15, 2001, ''The New York Times''. Retrieved July 26, 2013. Jefferson Machamer died in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

on August 15, 1960.

Gallery

File:Caricature of Wang Lianying by Thomas Machamer, New York Tribune, 1920-10-03, p5.jpg, Illustration of Wang Lianying, 3 October 1920 File:Jefferson Machamer, It's Libel to Say Movie Folks are Fast (1921).jpg, "It's Libel to Say Movie Folks are Fast", 2 October 1921 File:Jefferson Machamer, Do Your XMas Mailing Early, 10 December 1922.jpg, "Do Your XMas Mailing Early", 10 December 1922

Notes

References

*Levy, F. D., & Facts on File, Inc. (1979). ''Obituaries on file''. New York: Facts on File. *Nadel, D. (2006). ''Art out of time: Unknown comics visionaries, 1900-1969''. New York: Abrams. *Waugh, C. (1991). ''The comics''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

External links

*
Lambiek Comiclopedia article.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machamer, Jefferson 1900 births 1960 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American comics writers 20th-century American male actors University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Artists from Nebraska Male actors from Nebraska 20th-century American screenwriters