Otto Soglow (December 23, 1900 – April 3, 1975) was an American cartoonist best known for his

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

The Little King ''The Little King'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip created by Otto Soglow, which ran from 1930 to 1975. Its stories are told in a style using images and very few words, as in pantomime. Publication history Soglow's character first appear ...

''. Born in

Yorkville, Manhattan Yorkville is a neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Its southern boundary is East 79th Street (Manhattan), 79th Street, its northern East 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street, its western Third Avenue, ...

, as a child of German-Jewish parents, Soglow grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he held various jobs as a teenager and made an unsuccessful effort to become an actor. His first job was painting designs on baby rattles. While studying with

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight (Ashcan School), T ...

at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

, his first cartoon was printed in 1919. Throughout the 1920s, his drawings were seen in numerous magazines. Soglow's artwork was published in ''

New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). It was the successor to both '' The Masses'' (1911–1917) and ''The Liberator'' (1918–1924). ''New Masses'' was later merge ...

'', ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...

'', ''

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

''. He illustrated more than 35 books, and did five books of his own, including ''Wasn't the Depression Terrible?'' (1934).

''The Little King''

His character The Little King first appeared in ''The New Yorker'' in 1930.

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

lured Soglow away for his

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 ...

, but contractual obligations to ''The New Yorker'' prevented The Little King from appearing immediately. Soglow then produced a knock-off strip called '' The Ambassador'' from 1933 to 1934. After ''The Little King'' debuted on September 9, 1934, it ran until Soglow's death in 1975. It is still available today through King Features' email service,

DailyINK DailyINK was an online service created by King Features Syndicate to email many classic and current comic strips directly to subscribers for an annual fee of $19.99. King Features described it as "the all-inclusive subscription service for the true ...

National Cartoonists Society

In 1941, Soglow lived at 330 West 72nd Street in Manhattan. He was a co-founder of the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

and served as president for the 1953–54 term. He died in New York City in 1975. Otto and Annie Soglow had one daughter, Tona.

Awards

He received the National Cartoonists Society's

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

in 1966, followed by their Elzie Segar Award in 1972.

Sources

External links

Lambiek

Reuben bio

NCS Awards

Collection of mid-twentieth century advertising featuring Otto Soglow illustrations
from the TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic Design.

Historic film footage shows Otto Soglow drawing and talking at the American Theatre Wing Merchant Seaman's Club, NY, during World War 2
1900 births 1975 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American comics writers Jewish American comics artists Jewish American comics writers Jewish American editorial cartoonists Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery The New Yorker cartoonists Reuben Award winners People from Yorkville, Manhattan American people of German-Jewish descent American humorists Jewish humorists {{US-cartoonist-stub

''The Little King''

National Cartoonists Society

Awards

See also

Sources

External links