Leo Cullum
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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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
, one of the more frequent contributors to ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' with more than 800
gag cartoon A gag cartoon (also panel cartoon, single-panel cartoon, or gag panel) is most often a single-Panel (comics), panel cartoon, usually including a caption beneath the drawing. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech balloons, following the com ...
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 or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and flying planes commercially for
Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...
and
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
. Born in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, Cullum was raised in
North Bergen, New Jersey North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 63,361, an increase of 2,588 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 60,773, ...
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, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...
, 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 a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
, Cullum deployed to
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, where he flew more than 200 missions, mostly ground attacks in support of the infantry in addition to attacks on the
Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
supply lines on the
Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...
in
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
. 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; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', October 25, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2010.


Early cartoons

After completing his military service, Cullum became a pilot for TWA, which was later taken over by
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
, 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. Some of his recurring characters became known as the Addams Family, and were subsequently populari ...
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''.


''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'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', October 26, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2010.
Cartoon editor Bob Mankoff 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 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, 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 with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or v ...
".Cullum, Leo
The Cartoon Bank
, ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', 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 the 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 ...
, October 26, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2010.
Other books featured his cartoons about cats, dogs and business people. A resident of
Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...
, Cullum died of
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
at the age of 68 on October 23, 2010, at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', October 28, 2010. Accessed October 27, 2010.
He was survived by his wife, Kathy, a former flight attendant whom he had met on a flight to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, as well as by his daughters Kaitlin Cullum and
Kimberly Cullum Kimberly Cullum is an American former 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 in ''The N ...
, both of whom had been
child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...
s.


References


External links


Postscript: Leo Cullum
memories of Roz Chast
The Cartoon Bank
''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''
Vietnam Veterans of America's ''Arts of War on the Web'' appreciation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullum, Leo American humorists American magazine cartoonists 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 Hudson County, New Jersey Military personnel from Newark, New Jersey