Elliot Caplin (December 25, 1913 - February 20, 2000) was a

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 ...

writer best known as the co-creator (with

Stan Drake Stanley Albert Drake (November 9, 1921 – March 10, 1997) was an American cartoonist best known as the founding artist of the comic strip ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''. Born in Brooklyn, Drake worked in the back of a Dugan's Donut truck for a do ...

) of '' The Heart of Juliet Jones''. His name is sometimes spelled with one extra letter: Elliott A. Caplin. He was the younger brother of

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (wi ...

, creator of ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn ...

''.

Biography

Born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, Caplin graduated from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1936. Beginning in 1937, he was employed as a writer for

King Features Syndicate 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, editoria ...

. He entered the comic book field as editor of ''True Comics'' for the Parents Magazine Institute. By 1940, he was an editorial director with the magazine ''

Parents A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...

'', leaving 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 ...

to serve with the Navy in the South Pacific. In the post-World War II years, he returned to ''Parents'', continuing as an editor there until 1948. Caplin co-created the strips ''Dr. Bobbs'', ''Peter Scratch'', and ''

Big Ben Bolt ''Big Ben Bolt'' is a comic strip that was syndicated from February 20, 1950 to April 15, 1978. It was drawn by John Cullen Murphy, written by Elliot Caplin, and distributed by King Features Syndicate. The strip followed the adventures of boxer ...

'', and served as writer for strips by others, including ''

Abbie an' Slats ''Abbie an' Slats'' is an American comic strip which ran from July 12, 1937, to January 30, 1971, initially written by Al Capp and drawn by Raeburn Van Buren. It was distributed by United Feature Syndicate. Publication history ''Abbie an' Slat ...

'', ''

Long Sam ''Long Sam'' is an American comic strip created by Al Capp, writer-artist of ''Li'l Abner'', and illustrated by Bob Lubbers. It was syndicated by United Feature Syndicate from May 31, 1954, to December 29, 1962. The strip was initially written b ...

'', and ''

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on Aug ...

''. He adapted author Donald J. Sobol's ''

Encyclopedia Brown ''Encyclopedia Brown'' is a series of books featuring the adventures of boy detective Leroy Brown, nicknamed "Encyclopedia" for his intelligence and range of knowledge. The series of 29 children's novels was written (one co-written) by Donald ...

'' series into a comic strip. He founded the comic book publisher

Toby Press Toby Press was an American comic-book company that published from 1949 to 1955. Founded by Elliott Caplin, brother of cartoonist Al Capp and himself an established comic strip writer, the company published reprints of Capp's ''Li'l Abner'' strip; ...

, which operated from 1949 to 1955.Benton, Mike. ''The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History''. Dallas: Taylor Publishing, 1989, p. 148.

Theater

In the early 1970s, Caplin wrote ''Meegan’s Game'', a play about arrested adolescence. Directed by Paul E. Davis, it had a 1974 workshop production for several weekends at the Cricket Theatre on Second Avenue in an effort to interest potential backers. The play was eventually produced in 1982. Among his many other plays are ''A Nickel for Picasso'', a fictionalized account of his brother losing his leg. He also wrote a book about his brother, ''Al Capp Remembered''.

Personal life and death

Caplin lived in Larchmont, New York, with his wife Ruth and their three children, Donald, Joan and Toby. He died in

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is h ...

, in 2000.

References

External links

''Al Capp Remembered'' by Elliott Caplin (Bowling Green University Press, 1994)
1913 births 2000 deaths American comics writers People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts {{comic-strip-creator-stub