Blake, Bud (1) - TIGER Dailies and Sundays

I love Bud Blake's work. He drew the comic strip Tiger for nearly 40 years, incorporating a lively, calligraphic line, combined with gentle humor and wonderful compositions. Bud's work on the strip remained at a high level until he retired from the strip in early 2004. I found myself very lucky to be able to interview Bud in the summer of 2004. That interview appeared in issue #13 of Hogan's Alley. I visited with Bud in Maine again in the summer of 2005 and found him to be in high spirits and good health. He was once again the most gracious of hosts.

Here is a brief biographical excerpt from the introduction that I wrote for my interview with Bud (my apologies to those of you expecting the memorial piece written by Bud's son, but it was too long for the parameters set on this site. Email me and I'll send you a copy):

Bud Blake was born on February 13th, 1918, in Nutley, New Jersey. His father, George Blake, was an Art Director at the Batten Company, a forerunner of the famed advertising firm, BBD&O (Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn). The elder Blake was an accomplished painter and did many illustrations for well known ads, including the Dutch Boy character for Dutch Boy Paint. George Blake died at the age of 42, when Bud was only seven years old. His mother, Hazel Blake, ran a boarding house to support the family, but times were difficult for a single mother of three. Due to the financial hardships, there was at least one occasion when Bud had to live with friends. Bud attended school in both Nutley and New York City, and had various jobs along the way, from soda-jerk to lifeguard at a pool. The latter job didn't last all that long, as he was caught letting some friends sneak in to swim. Bud later studied art at the National Academy of Design and in 1937, at the age of 18, he began working as a paste-up boy at the Kudner Agency in New York City. He married Doris Gaskill, who worked at the Book-of-the-Month club, in 1939. Bud worked at Kudner until 1943, when he was drafted to serve in the U.S. Army. Private Bud Blake spent most of the three years at the Infantry Replacement Training Center in Macon, Georgia. His duties included creating silk-screen instructional posters for such activities as learning how to fire a machine gun. Upon his return from the army, Bud resumed his work at Kudner, working his way up to the position of Executive Art Director. The stresses of the job, though; the traveling, meetings, commuting and administrative work, took their toll and Bud abruptly quit Kudner in 1954, leaving what he called "good men and good pay" behind him. Bud yearned to get back to the drawing board and he developed a panel cartoon feature, titled "Ever Happen to You?", which he sold to King Features in 1954, shortly before moving to Spain with his family. Bud continued working on "Ever Happen to You?" for 11 years, at the same time doing freelance work for various advertising accounts and major magazines, such as Family Circle and Business Week. In 1965, Bud pitched an idea for a daily and Sunday comic strip to King Features. "Tiger", which was based upon his observations of neighborhood kids, as well as his own children, first saw print on May 3rd, 1965. It started with a healthy circulation of 400 newspapers and a strong publicity push. Bud won the National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Humor Strip in 1970, 1978 and 2001. Doris and Bud Blake had two children, Marianna and Jay. Doris passed away in 1988, after 49 years of marriage. Bud Blake retired from the comic strip in March 2004. He had drawn "Tiger" for nearly 40 years.

Bud Blake passed away on December 26th, 2005, at age 87. You can read the news of his passing here and at the King Features site.

Rest easy Bud. You will be missed.

There are 31 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.     1 through 18 shown.

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This Room is Ordered By The Owner's Preference.

There are 31 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.     1 through 18 shown.

Next »

This Room is Ordered By The Owner's Preference.