Bob Dunn (March 5, 1908 – January 31, 1989) was an American cartoonist, entertainer and gagwriter who drew several comic strips. In addition to his own strips, Dunn was known for his work on

Jimmy Hatlo James Cecil Hatlo (September 1, 1897 – December 1, 1963), better known as Jimmy Hatlo, was an American cartoonist who in 1929 created the long-running comic strip and gag panel ''They'll Do It Every Time'', which he wrote and drew until his d ...

's ''

Little Iodine ''Little Iodine'' is an American Sunday comic strip, created by Jimmy Hatlo, which was syndicated by King Features and ran from August 15, 1943 until August 14, 1983. The strip was a spin-off of '' They'll Do It Every Time'', an earlier Hatlo c ...

'' and ''

They'll Do It Every Time ''They'll Do It Every Time'' is a single-panel newspaper comic strip, created by Jimmy Hatlo, which had a long run over eight decades, first appearing on February 5, 1929, and continuing until February 3, 2008. The title of the strip became a pop ...

'', and is said to have invented the modern

knock-knock joke The knock-knock joke is a type of audience-participatory joke cycle, typically ending with a pun. Knock-knock jokes are primarily seen as children's jokes, though there are exceptions. The scenario is of a person knocking on the front door to a ho ...

in 1936.

Career

Dunn began his career at King Features. He submitted gags to newspapers and magazines and sold skits to

Earl Carroll Earl Carroll (September 16, 1893 – June 17, 1948) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, songwriter and composer. Early life Carroll was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1893. He lived as an infant in the Nunnery Hill ( Fine ...

for his ''Vanities'' on Broadway in 1930-31. In 1936, "he invented the

" in ''Knock Knock: Featuring Enoch Knox'', a book he wrote that sold over two million copies. More successful books followed including ''I'm Gonna Be a Father'', ''Hospital Happy'', ''One Day in the Army'' and ''Magic for All''. During World War II, he contributed to the war effort, as noted in the September 19, 1942 issue of '' Editor & Publisher'', "Another cartoonist doing his bit is Press Alliance artist Bob Dunn, whose ''Brassband Bixby'' enlisted in the armed forces shortly after December 7. The hero is in Navy Intelligence. Dunn has made many personal appearances at Army camps and U.S.O. centers making caricatures of the officers and men as well as entertaining them with his amateur magician and card tricks."Monchak, S.J. "Cartoonists Important Factor In Keeping Nation's Morale: Knights of the Syndicate Drawing Boards Are Doing Valuable Work for U. S - All Serving Gladly Without Remuneration," ''Editor & Publisher'', September 19, 1942.
/ref> Following the war,

King Features King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial ...

syndicated Dunn's ''Just the Type'' from May 5, 1946 to November 24, 1963. It ran in the '' New York Journal-American'' and several other newspapers. Comics historian

Allan Holtz Allan Holtz () is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide blog, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels. In addition to his contribu ...

commented, "Never a syndication success, King Features may well have let him do the feature just to keep him happy while working on the Hatlo cash cow feature... When Hatlo died in 1963, though, Dunn's workload presumably got that much heavier and ''Just the Type'' was dropped. Dunn finally got an official byline on ''They'll Do It Every Time'' starting in 1966." In 1947, soon after the founding of the National Cartoonists Society, Dunn, his good friend Rube Goldberg and a group of leading cartoonists from the NCS went on a three-month tour of the US and helped sell $58 million in US Savings Bonds. Dunn's card tricks and feats of mental magic blended with Goldberg's comic inventions for a show that amused audiences across the country.

Television

He starred in two shows in the early days of television. The first was '' Face to Face'' (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, June 1946 to January 1947). The second and more popular was '' Quick on the Draw'' ( DuMont local show beginning May 1950, and on the DuMont network January to December 1952), a celebrity panel show first hosted by Eloise McElhone and later by Robin Chandler. Dunn drew cartoon charades that celebrities would try to figure out. He was one of the cartoonists featured in a network television special on NBC, ''The Fabulous Funnies'' (1966). He was a long-time member of the famed theatrical

Lambs Club The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...

to which he contributed drawings, scripts and personal appearances. He also was the Official Toastmaster of the National Cartoonists Society for which he served as President (1965-1967). Dunn appeared on the January 10, 1966 episode of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

game show To Tell the Truth.

Awards

''They'll Do It Every Time'' and ''Little Iodine'' brought Dunn several awards. He won the National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for the years 1968 and 1969. He won it again in 1979 with

Al Scaduto Alvaro Scaduto (July 12, 1928 – December 8, 2007), better known as Al Scaduto, was a cartoonist noted for his 61-year span of work for King Features Syndicate on the classic strips, '' They'll Do It Every Time'' and '' Little Iodine'', which ...

. Dunn won the National Cartoonists Society's highest honor, the

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

, in 1975. He also received their Silver T-Square Award in 1957 and the Elzie Segar Award, named after the creator of ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar. NCS Awards

References

Sources

*''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons''. Chelsea House, 1980.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Bob 1908 births 1989 deaths American comic strip cartoonists Reuben Award winners