Anderson, Brad

Brad Anderson is an American cartoonist born May 14, 1924, in Jamestown, New York. He graduated from Brocton Central School in Brocton, New York in 1943 and then served with the United States Navy until 1946 and continued to cartoon. Initially aspiring to be an industrial designer, Anderson attended Syracuse University on the G.I. Bill ; in 1951 he graduated with a B.F.A. in Fine Arts with a major in advertising. Anderson went to work for Ball & Grier, an advertising agency in Utica, New York ; however, in 1953, Anderson decided to focus on freelance magazine cartooning. From 1954 to 1966, Anderson drew the comic strip Grandpa's Boy. He is best known for creating the comic strip Marmaduke in 1955, which he continues to draw to this day. According to Anderson, "During the time, I was drawing various types of dogs in my magazine cartoons, I was also trying to develop a dog character specifically for eventual newspaper syndication [....] you couldn't see the eyes of my shaggy dogs, so as I thought more about it I decided I wanted a dog where I could have an expressive face".[4] Anderson, who says he draws on Laurel and Hardy routines for his ideas,[5] received the National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for Marmaduke in 1978. Brad made his appearance on Animal Planet's Breed All About It and Dogs 101.