Robert Thaves (October 5, 1924 – August 1, 2006) was the creator of the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

'' Frank and Ernest'', which began in 1972.

Early life

Robert Lee Thaves was born on October 5, 1924, in

Burt, Iowa Burt is a city in Kossuth County, Iowa, Kossuth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 418 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Burt was platted in 1881 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for Hora ...

, where his father, John, published local newspapers. His father died when he was 13. Thaves' desire to become a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

began in his childhood. He had no formal training; instead, he practiced by studying and drawing the works of other cartoonists. He was so skilled he could identify the cartoonist of a

without looking at the

signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

. He attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where he received both a bachelor's and master's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. His cartoons were published in the university humor magazine ''Ski-U-Mah'' and newspaper ''

The Minnesota Daily The ''Minnesota Daily'' is the campus newspaper of the University of Minnesota, published Monday and Thursday while school is in session, and published weekly on Wednesdays during summer sessions. Published since 1900, the paper is currently the la ...

''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Thaves served in Europe in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

's 89th Infantry Division. He married his wife Katie in 1954, and moved with her to

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, California, Red ...

three years later. He enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, but left before completing his degree due to the success of his business career.

Career

While still at college, the first of his cartoons was printed in magazines. He continued to be interested in cartooning, and developed the ''Frank and Ernest'' strip while working as an industrial psychologist, occasionally selling comics to publications such as the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', ''

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'', and ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

''. ''Frank and Ernest'' began appearing in magazines as early as the 1960s. It was first nationally syndicated on November 6, 1972. ''Frank and Ernests distributor, United Media, said that the strip was carried by more than 1,300 newspapers and read by 25 million people. It was the first single panel strip to appear in the "panel" format, and the first to use block letters for its dialogue. He also drew the short-lived ''King Baloo'' strip, which ran during the 1980s. Co-created with Scott Stantis, its format was identical to ''Frank and Ernest'', but featured the titular King. His son Tom began collaborating with him on ''Frank and Ernest'' in 1997. The elder Thaves had planned on transitioning his son to take over the strip before his death.

Ginger Rogers quote

In a 1982 ''Frank and Ernest'' comic strip, Thaves wrote about

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

: "Sure he was great, but don't forget that

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

did everything he did, backwards… and in high heels." The officia
Ginger Rogers website
credits Thaves and uses his original line. Often the quote is incorrectly attributed to

Faith Whittlesey Faith Amy Whittlesey ( Ryan; February 21, 1939 – May 21, 2018) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician, White House Senior Staff member, and author. She was noted for her efforts to communicate Ronald Reagan's ...

. Sometimes the quote is attributed to

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

, who popularized the line in her

1988 Democratic National Convention The 1988 Democratic National Convention was held at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, from July 18 to 21, 1988, to select candidates for the 1988 presidential election. At the convention Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was nominated for pre ...

speech, paraphrasing it as: "But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels," though Richards credited television journalist

Linda Ellerbee Linda Ellerbee (born Linda Jane Smith; August 15, 1944) is an American journalist, anchor, producer, reporter, author, speaker and commentator, noted as longtime Washington correspondent for NBC News and host of NBC News Overnight. She is widel ...

for giving her the line. Ellerbee said she heard the line from a fellow passenger on an airplane.Keyes, Ralph (2006) The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 77

Awards

He won several awards for ''Frank and Ernest'' including the

National Cartoonist Society 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 ...

Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1983, 1984 and 1986. He won the

H.L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

Award for the best cartoon in 1985 and he was selected as "Punster of the Year" in 1990.

Death

Thaves died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

at the age of 81.

Tributes

Several comic strips paid tribute to Thaves in the weeks after his death in 2006: ''

Candorville ''Candorville'' is a Print syndication, syndicated newspaper comic strip written and illustrated by Darrin Bell. Launched in September 2003 by The Washington Post Writers Group, ''Candorville'' features young black and Latino characters living ...

'' on August 14; ''

Arlo & Janis ''Arlo and Janis'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip written and drawn by Jimmy Johnson. It is a leisurely paced domestic situation comedy. It was first published in newspapers on July 29, 1985. Cast The focus of the strip is tightly on it ...

'' on August 29, and ''

Prickly City ''Prickly City'' is a daily comic strip originally drawn by Scott Stantis, the editorial cartoonist for the ''Chicago Tribune'', and distributed through United Features Syndicate. The cartoon follows the adventures of Carmen, a young girl of col ...

'' (a strip written by his ''King Baloo'' collaborator Scott Stantis) on September 10.

References

External links

Frank and Ernest's official homepageNCS Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thaves, Bob 1924 births 2006 deaths University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni American comic strip cartoonists People from Kossuth County, Iowa People from Manhattan Beach, California United States Army personnel of World War II Deaths from respiratory failure