Harrington, Wallace :: Leonard Starr

Leonard Starr - On Stage daily - 12 September 1957

Artist: Leonard Starr (All)

2 Comments - 2,574 Views - 2 Likes

Leonard Starr - On Stage daily - 12 September 1957 Comic Art

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Leonard Starr - Mary Perkins On Stage - 22 August 1957

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Mary Perkins On Stage - 7 November 1971

Artwork Details

Title:	Leonard Starr - On Stage daily - 12 September 1957
Artist:	Leonard Starr (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	2,574
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	2
Added to Site:	3/23/2016
Comic Art Archive:

Description

There isn't much I can say about On Stage that hasn't been said before. Leonard Starr created what has become one of the quintessential American comic strips there to rival the likes of Alex Raymond's Rip Kirby and Stan Drake's The Heart of Juliet Jones. It was one of the first photo-realistic postwar soap opera strips with wonderful drawing and attention to detail. Starr's Mary Perkins was sophisticated, graceful and beautiful and the strip went backstage to explore what it was like being an actress in the late 1950's through the 1970's... including political intrigue, sexual scandal and backstage behavior.

As many know, Starr donated a large portion of his art to Syracuse University (similar to what Caniff did with Ohio State). That especially makes the early strips very rare. The first daily appeared 10 February 1957 so this one is from the seventh month of the strip and shows a young Mary, before she married photojournalist Pete Fletcher. In fact, this was the story of how they met. As you can see from the daily, Pete was assigned to photograph Mary for his magazine as she went through her day... beginning with breakfast which turned out to be a disaster.

I should add that I got this from Dave Karlen. Not only a friend and a good guy, but a very decent art dealer as well. I recommend him.

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About the Owner

	Wallace Harrington ( 27 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	December 2004
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	wwh27539
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Wallace 's Classifieds Wallace 's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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comicinkking. com
Member Since 2004

Posted on 3/23/2016

Wally - another winner!! That's a great strip and I love your description of On Stage overall. I would only add that the writing is terrific and holds up remarkably well even today. If you haven't read On Stage, you're really missing out. Congrats!

Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

Posted on 3/23/2016

Great stuff, Wally. I'm all about the On Stage goodness!

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