Dik Browne

Richard Arthur Allan Browne (August 11, 1917 – June 4, 1989) was an American cartoonist, best known for writing and drawing Hägar the Horrible and Hi and Lois.[1]

Dik Browne
Born(1917-08-11)August 11, 1917
New York City, New York
DiedJune 4, 1989(1989-06-04) (aged 71)
Sarasota, Florida

Biography

Dik Browne was born on August 11, 1917, in Manhattan.[2]

Browne attended Cooper Union for a year,[2] then started work at the New York Journal-American, as a copy boy, later working in the art department, drawing maps and charts.[2]

In 1936, photographers and artists were banned from the Lucky Luciano compulsory prostitution trial.[3][4] Browne slipped in undetected, and his courtroom sketchs gave the New York Journal-American a news exclusive on the story.[3][4][5][6][7]

During World War II, in 1942, he joined the army, and was assigned to draw maps and charts for an Army engineering unit, eventually rising to staff sergeant.[2] In his spare time, he created the comic "Ginny Jeep", a comic strip about the Women's Army Corps, appearing in Army and Air Force newspapers.[8][9]

In the late 1940s, he worked as an illustrator for Newsweek, as well as, for Johnstone & Cushing, an advertising company, where, in 1944, he created the Carmen-Miranda-inspired Miss Chiquita trademark/logo, for Chiquita, and later, the Birds Eye bird, a Campbell's Soup kids redesign, and a Mounds candy bar ad.[10][11]

From 1950 to 1960, he drew The Tracy Twins, a comic strip, for Boys' Life.[2] His work for this strip, and for the Mounds candy bar ad, brought him to the attention of King Features Syndicate.[2]

In 1954, cartoonist Mort Walker, seeing the Mounds candy bar ad,[10] enlisted Browne,[10] to co-created the comic strip Hi and Lois, a spin-off of Walker's popular Beetle Bailey strip, featuring Beetle's sister, brother-in-law and their family. Walker wrote the strip, which Browne illustrated until his death. The series is now drawn by his son Chance and written by Walker's sons. In 1973, Browne created Hägar the Horrible about an ill-mannered red-bearded medieval viking. The comic was then produced by his son Chris until 2023. Both strips have been successful, appearing in hundreds of newspapers for decades.[12]

Browne died of cancer on June 4, 1989, at the age of 71, in Sarasota, Florida.[13][14]

Recognition

He got the National Cartoonists Society's Best Humor Strip plaque in 1959, 1960, and 1972, and its Reuben Award as Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1962, for Hi and Lois.[2] He was National Cartoonists Society president in 1963.[2] The National Cartoonists Society gave Browne a second Reuben Award for Hägar the Horrible in 1973, and three more Best-Humor Strip awards in 1977, 1984, and 1986.[2] In 1973, the National Cartoonists Society gave him the Elzie Segar Award.

References
  1. "Dik Browne, 71, Cartoonist, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  2. Browne, Dik (1989). Happy Hour. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-515-10225-3.
  3. "'Hi and Lois' artist Browne dies". Tulsa World. AP. 5 June 1989. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  4. "'Hagar the Horrible' creator dead of cancer at 71". UPI. June 4, 1989. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  5. "Dik Browne". lambiek.net. Retrieved Jan 27, 2020.
  6. "Charles 'Lucky' Luciano Trial: 1936". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  7. Poulsen, Ellen (2007). The Case Against Lucky Luciano: New York's Most Sensational Vice Trial. Clinton Cook. ISBN 978-0-9717200-1-5.
  8. "Dik Browne, 71, Cartoonist, Dies". The New York Times. 1989-06-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  9. "Dik Browne Cartoons An inventory of his cartoons". library.syr.edu at Syracuse University. Retrieved Jan 27, 2020.
  10. Conradt, Stacy. "What Hägar the Horrible and the Chiquita Banana Girl Have in Common". mentalfloss.com. Minute Media. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  11. "Spotlight On: Dik Browne". National Cartoonists Society. September 9, 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  12. "Hagar The Horrible". comicskingdom.com. KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  13. "Chris Browne: Hagar the Horrible artist! INTERVIEW 2/4". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved Jan 27, 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  14. "Dik Browne; Cartoonist Drew 'Hagar,' 'Hi and Lois'". Los Angeles Times. 1989-06-06. Retrieved 2019-10-02.

Sources
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