Bil Keane
Template:Short description Template:About
Template:Infobox comics creator William Aloysius Keane (October 5, 1922 – November 8, 2011) was an American cartoonist best known for the newspaper comic strip The Family Circus. He began it in 1960 and his son Jeff Keane continues to produce it.<ref name="ap">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cnn">Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life and education
Keane was born in Crescentville, a neighborhood in Philadelphia, and attended parochial school at St. William Parish and Northeast Catholic High School.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> While a schoolboy, he taught himself to draw by mimicking the style of the cartoons published in The New Yorker.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His first cartoon was published on May 21, 1936, on the amateur page of the Philadelphia Daily News.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While in high school, he signed his work "Bill Keane",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but omitted the second L from his first name early in his career, in order "to be distinctive".<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Career
Keane served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945, during which he drew for Yank and created the feature "At Ease with the Japanese" for the Pacific edition of Stars and Stripes.
From 1946 to 1959 Keane worked as a staff artist for the Philadelphia Bulletin, where he launched his first regular comic strip Silly Philly. His first syndicated strip, Channel Chuckles, a series of jokes about television, premiered in 1954 and ran until 1977.<ref>Template:Harv</ref> In 1959, the Keane family moved to Paradise Valley, Arizona. Keane's daily newspaper panel The Family Circus premiered on February 29, 1960.<ref>Template:Harv</ref> He was president of the National Cartoonists Society from 1981 to 1983 and was the master of ceremonies at the Society's annual awards banquet for 16 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
From 1981 to 1983, Keane published the gag strip Eggheads in collaboration with his son Jeff, who now draws and writes The Family Circus. Like his father, Jeff Keane has been president of the National Cartoonists Society, serving four years thereat.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Keane, Christopher, Family Circus: The Next Generation, Cartoon Profiles, Issue No. 127, pg. 11, September 2000, Retrieved 2008-05-26</ref>
Personal life
While stationed in Australia he met Thelma "Thel" Carne.<ref name=wp>Template:Cite news</ref> They were married in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1948<ref name=wp/> and settled in Roslyn, Pennsylvania. They had five children: Gayle, Neal, Glen, Christopher and Jeff. Glen is an animator and has drawn much notice for his work for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Jeff is a cartoonist and took over his father's comic strip upon the latter's death. Thel, the inspiration for Mommy in The Family Circus, died on May 23, 2008, from complications of Alzheimer's disease.<ref name=wp/><ref name=MeyersAL-AP-2008-05-25>Template:Cite news</ref>
Keane and his wife owned a second residence in Laguna Beach, California.<ref name=KEANE>Template:Cite news</ref>
Bil Keane died on November 8, 2011, at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, near Phoenix, at age 89. The cause of death was given as congestive heart failure. A Catholic, he was buried beside his wife in the Holy Redeemer Cemetery of Phoenix, Arizona.<ref name="ap"/>
Awards
Keane received the National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Syndicated Panel four times, in 1967, 1971, 1973 and 1974.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref> In 1981, he was awarded the Inkpot Award.<ref>Inkpot Award</ref> In 1982, he was named the Society's Cartoonist of the Year and received the Reuben Award, the Society's top honor.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref> That year he also received the Elzie Segar Award for his unique contribution to the cartooning profession.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref>
In 1998, Keane became the tenth recipient of the Arizona Heritage Award, joining—among others—Barry Goldwater, Sandra Day O'Connor, Mo Udall and Erma Bombeck.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2002 Keane was honored with the Silver T-Square Award from the National Cartoonist Society for "outstanding dedication" to the Society and the cartooning profession.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref> In 2008, he received the Sergio Award from the Comic Art Professional Society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Friends
Keane was close friends with humorist and newspaper columnist Erma Bombeck. He provided illustrations for Bombeck's book Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own! (1972), and considered himself instrumental in convincing Bombeck and her family to move to Arizona near his home.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was a pallbearer at Bombeck's funeral in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Stephan Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine, acknowledged he was good friends with Keane and Keane's son, Jeff.<ref>Pastis, Stephan "And Now a Few Words From the Creator of One of the World's Most Beloved Family Comics", Official Pearls Before Swine Blog, stephanpastis.wordpress.com, 28 July 2009</ref> Pastis has parodied The Family Circus in his own strip several times, and Keane wrote a satirical "attack" on these jokes as a foreword for Pastis' Pearls collection Macho Macho Animals.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the comic strip switcheroo of 1997, Keane switched strips with Scott Adams of Dilbert.<ref name="Star">Template:Cite news</ref> Adams said, "Bil was a misunderstood creative genius who knew how to write for his target audience. He was also a great guy. I was a big fan."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Keane also counted fellow cartoonists Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts) and Mell Lazarus (Miss Peach, Momma) as close friends.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1994, the characters from The Family Circus made a "guest appearance" in Bill Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead comic strip. Griffith said, "I remembered Bil's affection for Zippy, so I decided to bite the bullet and call him to ask if, instead of me parodying his strip, he'd agree to jam with me..."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Keane drew his characters in Griffith's strip, with dialogue written for them by Griffith. Then, on March 7, 1995, Zippy made an appearance, drawn by Griffith, in a Family Circus panel. Griffith said that Family Circus was "the last remaining folk art strip"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and that "It's supposed to be the epitome of squareness, but it turns the corner into a hip zone."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Books
Family Circus collections
- The Family Circus (1961)
- The Family Circus Vol. 1 (1965)
- The Family Circus Vol. 2 (1966)
- Sunday with the Family Circus (1966)
- The Family Circus (1967)
- I Need a Hug. (1968)
- Peace, Mommy, Peace! (1969)
- Wanna Be Smiled At? (1970)
- Peekaboo! I Love You! (1971)
- Look Who's Here! (1972)
- Can I Have a Cookie? (1973)
- Hello, Grandma? (1973)
- At Home with the Family Circus (1973)
- I'm Taking a Nap (1974)
- When's Later, Daddy? (1974)
- I Can't Untie My Shoes! (1975)
- Dolly Hit Me Back! (1975)
- Mine: And Yours, Too! (1975)
- Jeffy's Lookin' at Me (1976)
- Smile! (1976)
- Not Me! (1976)
- Quiet! Mommy's Asleep! (1977)
- Sunday with the Family Circus (1977)
- For This I Went to College? (1977)
- Where's PJ? (1978)
- Any Children? (1979)
- Dolly Hit Me Back! (1979)
- Not Me. (1980)
- Daddy's Little Helpers (1980)
- Good Morning, Sunshine! (1980)
- On Vacation with the Family Circus (1980)
- Kittycat's Motor is Running! (1981)
- Who Invented Rain? (1981)
- My Turn Next! (1981)
- Pasghetti and Meat Bulbs! (1981)
- That Family Circus Feeling (1982)
- Go to Your Room! (1982)
- It's Not Easy Bein' the Littlest (1982)
- We'll Help You Get Better (1982)
- Mommy, God's Here (1982)
- PJ's Barefoot All Over! (1989)
- I'm Already Tucked In (1983)
- Pick Up What Things? (1983)
- Grandma Was Here (1983)
- My Turn Next! (1984)
- Love, The Family Circus (1984)
- The Family Circus Parade (1984)
- It's My Birthday Suit (1984)
- I Dressed Myself! (1984)
- How Do You Turn It on? (1985)
- Unquestionably the Family Circus (1985)
- Wanna Be Smiled at? (1985)
- PJ's Still Hungry (1986)
- Heart of the Family Circus (1986)
- He Followed Me Home (1987)
- The Family Circus's Colorful Life (1987)
- We're Home! (1987)
- Where Did the Summer Go? (1987)
- I Could Hear Chewing (1988)
- It's Muddy Out Today (1988)
- Oops! We're Out of Juice (1988)
- The Family Circus is Very Keane (1988)
- Granddad! It's Morning! (1989)
- We Didn't Do It! (1989)
- Baby on Board (1989)
- The Family Circus Memories (1989)
- Behold the Family Circus (1989)
- Quiet, Sam! (1990)
- I Had a Frightmare! (1990)
- I Just Dropped Grandma! (1990)
- I'm Wearin' a Zucchini! (1991)
- The Sky's All Wrinkled (1991)
- It's Up and Let 'Em at Me (1991)
- Through the Year with the Family Circus (1992)
- Look! A Flutterby! (1992)
- Are You Awake, Daddy? (1992)
- I'll Shovel the Cards (1992)
- Sam's Takin' a Catnap! (1992)
- Enjoy Yourselves! (1993)
- What Does This Say? (1994)
- Stay! (1994)
- Count Your Blessings (1995)
- Sing Me a Loveaby? (1995)
- Daddy's Cap Is on Backwards (1996)
- The Family Circus by Request (1998)
Special compilations
- The Family Circus Treasury, foreword by Erma Bombeck (1977)
- The Family Circus Album, foreword by Charles Schulz (1984)
- The Family Circus is Us (1990)
- Family Circus Library, Vol. 1 by The Library of American Comics (2009)
- Family Circus Library, Vol. 2 by The Library of American Comics (2010)
Other cartoon collections
- Channel Chuckles (1964)
- Jest in Pun (1966)
- Pun-Abridged Dictionary (1968)
- More Channel Chuckles (1971)
- It's Apparent You're a Parent (1971)
- Deuce and Don'ts of Tennis (1975)
- Eggheads written by Bil Keane and Jeff Keane (1983)
Illustrated books
- Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own! written by Erma Bombeck and Bil Keane (1971)
- Hey, Father! written by Jeanne Marie Lortie, illustrated by Bil Keane (1973)
- Daddy's Surprise Day written by Gale Wiersum, illustrated by Bil Keane (1980)
- Ask Any Mother written by Jean B. Boyce, illustrated by Bil Keane (1991)
- Just Ask Mom written by Jean B. Boyce, illustrated by Bil Keane (1996)
- Just Like Home written by Jean B. Boyce, illustrated by Bil Keane (2001)
Footnotes
References
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1922 births
- 2011 deaths
- United States Army personnel of World War II
- Artists from Arizona
- People from Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
- People from Paradise Valley, Arizona
- Artists from Philadelphia
- Reuben Award winners
- United States Army soldiers
- American comic strip cartoonists
- American comics writers
- American humorists
- Catholics from Pennsylvania
- Catholics from Arizona
- Inkpot Award winners