Leo Henry Bachle (November 23, 1923 – May 2003), a.k.a. Les Barker, was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

comic book artist 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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...

in the era of the Canadian Whites, and later became a

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

Biography

Born in Toronto in November 1923, Bachle attended Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute. In late 1941, fifteen-year-old Bachle was hired by John Ezrin, the manager of Bell Features in

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, Canada, to come up with something exciting for the company's growing

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

line. He created the character Johnny Canuck, which debuted in the first issue of '' Dime Comics'' in February 1942. In the first Canuck story he confronts

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

which helped to propel ''Dime Comics'' to becoming the best-selling comic in the Bell line. Leo became one of Bell's key artists, drawing characters such as Wild Bill, The Invisible Commando, Chip Piper, Southpaw, Super Sub, and The Brain. Bachle's success led to the company to hire a number of new, young artists, including Ross Saakel and Jerry Lazare. Bachle's character, Johnny Canuck, was considered invaluable to the war effort. It was considered valuable enough to Bell for the company to acquire the copyright from Bachle in December 1944. He later went to

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, where he did work for

Timely Comics Timely Comics was the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely P ...

, L.B. Cole and

Max Gaines Maxwell Charles Gaines (born Max Ginzberg, September 21, 1894 – August 20, 1947) was an American publisher and a pioneering figure in the creation of the modern comic book. In 1933, Gaines devised the first four-color, saddle-stitched newspri ...

. in 1950, Bachle changed his name to Les Barker and gave up drawing comic books. He became a well-regarded comedian and toured the globe performing his unique comedy act known as ''Quick on the Draw''. The tours included appearances with such entertainers as

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish Americans, Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, ...

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

Rich Little Richard Caruthers Little (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian-American comedian, impressionist and voice actor. Sometimes known as the "Man of a Thousand Voices", Little has recorded nine comedy albums and made numerous television appearance ...

and

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

. In the 1970s, Barker had acting roles in several film and television productions, including '' Welcome to Blood City'', '' 125 Rooms of Comfort'', ''

Class of '44 Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

'' and '' Norman Corwin Presents''. Bachle died in Toronto in May 2003 at Scarborough Grace Hospital.

Legacy

In 1995,

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put Johnny Canuck on a postage stamp, which was part of a series with other notable Canadian comic-book heroes. In 2005, Leo Bachle was among the first batch of Canadian comic book artists inducted into the Joe Shuster Awards Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Pen Portrait of Leo Bachle from Dime Comics
1923 births 2003 deaths Canadian comics artists Canadian stand-up comedians {{authority control

Biography

Legacy

See also

Further reading

References

External links