Jim Davis (cartoonist)
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For other people named James Davis, see James Davis (disambiguation).
| Jim Davis | |
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Jim Davis in 2010
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| Born | James Robert Davis July 28, 1945 Marion, Indiana, United States |
| Occupation | Cartoonist |
| Known for | Garfield comic strip (1978–present) |
| Parents | James William Davis (father) Anna Catherine Davis (mother) |
Davis has written (or in some cases co-written) all of the Emmy Award-winning or nominated Garfield TV specials and was one of the producers behind the Garfield & Friends TV show which aired on CBS from 1988 to 1995. Davis is the writer and executive producer of a trilogy of C.G.-direct-to-video feature films about Garfield, as well as one of the executive producers and the creator for the new CGI-animated TV series The Garfield Show. He continues to work on the strip.
Personal life
Jim was born in Marion, Indiana on July 28, 1945 ,[1] Davis grew up on a small farm in Fairmount, Indiana, with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine Carter) Davis, brother Dave and 25 cats. Davis's childhood on a farm parallels the life of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon is a cartoonist, who also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University where he studied art and business. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity.Ironically, considering his fame as a cartoonist who draws a cat, Davis's first wife, Carolyn (Altekruse), was allergic to cats,[2] but they owned a dog named pooky and had a cat.[3] They have a son, James Alexander Davis.[2][4] On July 16, 2000, Davis married his current wife, Jill. They have three children: James, Ashley and Christopher.[3]
Davis resides in Albany, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his Paws, Inc. company, launched in 1981. Paws, Inc. employs nearly 50 artists and licensing administrators, who work with agents around the world managing Garfield's vast licensing, syndication and entertainment empire.
Davis is a former president of the Fairmount, Indiana, FFA chapter.[5]
Career
Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for a local[where?] advertising agency, and in 1969, he began assisting Tom Ryan's comic strip, Tumbleweeds. He then created a comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, that ran for five years in The Pendleton Times, an Indiana newspaper. When Davis attempted to sell it to a national comic strip syndicate, an editor told him, "Your art is good, your gags are great, but bugs—nobody can relate to bugs!"[6]On June 19, 1978, Garfield started syndication in 41 newspapers. Today it is syndicated in 2,580 newspapers and is read by approximately 300 million readers each day.[7]
In the 1980s, Davis created the barnyard slapstick comic strip U.S. Acres. Outside the U.S., the strip was known as Orson's Farm. Davis, along with Brett Koth, also made a 2000-03 strip based on the Mr. Potato Head toy.
Davis founded the Professor Garfield Foundation to support children’s literacy.[8]
His influences include Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Charles Shultz's Peanuts, Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon, and Johnny Hart's B.C.[9]
Awards
| Year | Award | Presenting Organization& Sciences |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Elzie Segar Award for Contributions to Cartooning | National Cartoonist Society |
| 1985-86 | Emmy Award, Outstanding Animated Program, Garfield's Halloween Adventure TV special, CBS | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| 1986 | Best Strip | National Cartoonist Society |
| 1988-89 | Emmy Award, Outstanding Animated Program, Garfield's Babes and Bullets, TV special, CBS | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| 1988 | Sagamore of the Wabash | State of Indiana |
| 1989 | Reuben Award for Overall Excellence in Cartooning | National Cartoonist Society |
| 1989 | Indiana Arbor Day Spokesman Award (Presented to Jim Davis and Garfield) | Indiana Division of Natural Resources and Forestry |
| 1990 | Good Steward Award, (Presented to Jim Davis and Garfield) | National Arbor Day Foundation |
| 1991 | Indiana Journalism Award (Presented to Jim Davis and Garfield) | Ball State University Department of Journalism |
| 1992 | Distinguished Hoosier | State of Indiana |
| 1995 | Project Award | National Arbor Day Foundation |
| 1997 | LVA Leadership Award (Presented to Paws) | Literacy Volunteers of Americahttp://www.bloglines.com/index.html |
References
- De Weyer, Geert (2008). 100 stripklassiekers die niet in je boekenkast mogen ontbreken (in Dutch). Amsterdam / Antwerp: Atlas. p. 244. ISBN 978-90-450-0996-4.
- "Those Catty Cartoonists," Time magazine, Dec. 07, 1981; available online at Time magazine website.
- Jim Davis at Everything2.com
- NNDB profile. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
- "National FFA Organization Prominent Members", National F.F.A. Organization (PDF)
- Davis, Jim. 20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998, p. 14.
- "Garfield Named World's Most Syndicated Comic Strip.". Business Wire. January 22, 2002. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
- "TRC About Us: Professor Garfield". Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- "'Interview with Jim Davis". The Daily Grid. November 9, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
Sources
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This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (December 2013) |
- Bruce McCabe, "The Man Who Put Garfield on Top", The Boston Globe, March 8, 1987.
External links
- Jim Davis at the Internet Movie Database
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