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Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (March 4, 1932 – April 4, 2001) was an American
artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
,
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 g ...
,
illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...
, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the
hot rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
icon
Rat Fink Rat Fink is one of several hot rod characters created by artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, one of the originators of Kustom Kulture of automobile enthusiasts. Roth conceived Rat Fink as an anti-hero to Mickey Mouse. Rat Fink is usually portrayed as e ...
and other characters. Roth was a key figure in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
's Kustom Kulture and hot rod movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.


Early life

Roth was born in Beverly Hills, California. He was the son of Marie (Bauer) and Henry Roth. He grew up in
Bell, California Bell is an incorporated city in Los Angeles County, California, near the center of the former San Antonio Township (abolished after 1960). Its population was 35,477 at the 2010 census, down from 36,664 in the 2000 census. Bell is located on the ...
, attending Bell High School, where his classes included auto shop and art. At age 14 Roth acquired his first car, a 1933 Ford coupe. He studied engineering at a Los Angeles college, then served in the United States air force, and, by the early '50s, was experimenting with fibreglass modelling.


Career

Roth is best known for his grotesque caricatures — typified by
Rat Fink Rat Fink is one of several hot rod characters created by artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, one of the originators of Kustom Kulture of automobile enthusiasts. Roth conceived Rat Fink as an anti-hero to Mickey Mouse. Rat Fink is usually portrayed as e ...
 — depicting imaginary, out-sized monsters driving representations of the hot rods that he and his contemporaries built. Roth began airbrushing and selling "Weirdo" T-shirts at car shows and in the pages of '' Car Craft'' magazine as early as July 1958. By the August 1959 issue of '' Car Craft'' "Weirdo shirts" had become a full-blown craze with Roth at the forefront of the movement. The article featured Roth along with fellow Kustom Kulture pioneers Dean Jeffries and
Pete Millar Peter Millar (1929 – 2003) was an American illustrator, cartoonist, and drag racer best known for his work with ''CARtoons'' and '' DRAG Cartoons'' magazines. Millar often used the pen name "Millarkey". Career ''Arin Cee'' Millar's first pu ...
. Inspired by Roth and Barris Kustoms (whose shirts were airbrushed by Dean Jeffries),
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
native Stanley Miller, a.k.a. "Stanley Mouse", began advertising his own shirts in the pages of '' Car Craft'' in January 1961. The lesser-known Rendina Studios of Detroit and Mad Mac of Cleveland also joined in on the monster "Weirdo" shirt craze, but Roth was certainly the person who widely popularized the "monsters in hot rods" art form. In 1959 Roth created the Outlaw. This fiberglass Kustom hot rod was featured in the January 1960 issue of ''Car Craft''. The car was covered in ''Car Craft'' and ''Rod and Custom'', and appeared at custom car and hot rod shows. Other hot rods include the
Beatnik Bandit The Beatnik Bandit is a custom car created in 1961 by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. The car features a clear bubble canopy. Speed and direction are controlled by a central joystick in the cabin. History The car originally appeared as a sketch in a project ...
(1961), the twin Ford engined Mysterion (1963), the
Orbitron The Orbitron is a custom car built by Ed Roth and feared lost until its rediscovery in Mexico in 2007. Construction Built in 1964, the vehicle was powered by a 1955 or 1956 Chevrolet V8 and was backed by a Powerglide automatic transmission. The ...
(1964), and the Road Agent (1965), among others.Ganahl, ''Ed "Big Daddy" Roth''. In 1965, Roth's surf buggy, the Surfite, was featured in the film ''
Beach Blanket Bingo ''Beach Blanket Bingo'' is a 1965 American beach party film directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the Beach Party film series. The film stars Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Linda Evans, Deborah Walley, Paul Lynde, and Don Rickl ...
'' starring Frankie Avalon and
Annette Funicello Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Funicello began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She was one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the orig ...
, and also in ''
Village of the Giants ''Village of the Giants'' is a 1965 American teensploitation comedy science fiction film produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon. Based loosely on H. G. Wells's 1904 book ''The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth'', it contains ...
'', featuring
Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was awar ...
and Tommy Kirk. One of Roth's personal drivers was a tangerine orange 1955 Chevy 2-door post with a Ford 406 cu. in. engine under the hood; he drove this car to his shop every day for years. In 1962 the
Revell Revell GmbH is an American-origin manufacturer of plastic scale models, currently based in Bünde. The original Revell company merged with Monogram in 1986, becoming "Revell-Monogram". The business operated until 2007, when American Revell was ...
model company began selling plastic models of Roth's cars and from 1963 to 1965 Revell also manufactured plastic models of many of Roth's monsters, including Rat Fink, Brother Rat Fink, Drag Nut, Mother's Worry, Mr. Gasser and other weird creatures created by Roth. Revell continues to re-issue Roth's Monsters and Kustom Car kits. In 1963 The
Hawk Model Company The Hawk Model Company is an American brand and former manufacturing company of scale model aeroplanes, ships, and figures, established in 1928. Headquartered in Chicago, Hawk was one of the first American manufacturers of injection-molded plast ...
issued its line of "Weird-Oh's" plastic models and Marx Toys issued Nutty Mads, both clearly inspired by Roth's work. Both items were quite popular in the mid-60s and remain sought after collector's items to this day. Hawk Models continues to re-issue its "Weird-Oh's" periodically. A “corporate publicist” gave the 6ft 4in tall Roth the nickname "Big Daddy". Numerous artists were associated with Roth including artist David Mann, ''Rat Fink Comix'' artist R.K. Sloane,
Steve Fiorilla Steve Fiorilla (January 12, 1961 – July 29, 2009) was an American artist born in Paterson, New Jersey, who lived and worked in Buffalo, New York. Throughout his career, Fiorilla emphasized the grotesque and surreal in illustrations, sculptur ...
who illustrated some of Roth's catalogs, and most notably, Ed Newton, who worked for Roth and designed several of his cars and T-shirt designs beginning in 1964, and Kustom Kulture icon Robert Williams who began working for Roth in late 1965. In the mid 1960s Roth began customizing motorcycles. Mainstream motorcycle magazines refused to run his articles and ads, so he started his own publication called ''Choppers'', which featured articles on extending forks, custom sissy bars, etc. It was a small, black and white publication that ran from 1967 to 1970, and was the first magazine ever to exclusively feature custom motorcycles, or choppers. Roth also built the first known VW powered trike. Roth built many trikes for himself and others, including Candy Wagon, California Cruiser, Secret Weapon, Rubber Ducky and The Great Speckled Bird. In 1967 Roth built the Mega Cycle, Originally named by Robert Williams, "Captain Pepi's Motorcycle & Zeppelin Repair" was later changed to the "Mega Cycle" after a strong suggestion from car show promoters. Powered by a Buick V6 engine, Mega Cycle was designed to carry Ed's Harley XLCH. Later Ed felt that the XLCH just did not work and, through a series of trades, ended up with Bob Aquistapase's award-winning Triumph. The Mega Cycle is currently on display at Motorcyclepedia Museum in Newburgh, NY. In 1968
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in mor ...
introduced
Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers h ...
and Roth’s Beatnik Bandit was one of the first 16 die-cast toy cars produced by the company. From 1970 to 1975, Roth worked for Brucker's Movie World and their "Cars of the Stars" display. Brucker said that Roth was very loyal and a very hard worker, even though he was not making much money. Brucker said that when building something, Roth had a natural knack for seeing how things fit together — he would build something in a few days which would take others a couple of weeks. Although Roth was laid-back and amiable, Brucker also remembers that Roth was a fighter and if anyone came through the museum causing trouble, Roth would put them in line. He was fearless.Ganahl, p. 136. Roth's Druid Princess was one of the many cars displayed there. Also during the 1970s, Roth worked for Knott's Berry Farm as a sign painter and artist. He worked there for 10 years until about 1980.Ganahl, p. 144. In December 1977, Robert and Suzanne Williams, along with Skip Barrett, organized the first Rat Fink Reunion to celebrate the legacy of Roth. Rat Fink Reunions are still held to this day at the site of Roth's final residence in Manti, Utah and near Los Angeles. In 1993, a major exhibition was held at the Julie Rico Gallery in Santa Monica shortly after the Laguna Museum show "Kustom Kulture". It was at this time that the lowbrow art movement began to take on steam. Featured in the exhibition titled, "Rat Fink Meets Fred Flypogger Meets Cootchy Cooty" were Roth, Willams, and Mouse and their creations. The L.A. Times placed Roth's
Rat Fink Rat Fink is one of several hot rod characters created by artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, one of the originators of Kustom Kulture of automobile enthusiasts. Roth conceived Rat Fink as an anti-hero to Mickey Mouse. Rat Fink is usually portrayed as e ...
on the cover of the Culture section December 20, 1993 with a full article about the entire exhibition. Artist Jean Jacques Bastarache collaborated with Ed Big Daddy Roth for this exhibition creating paintings called Master Finks. Images were used from historical watershed paintings by well-known artists like Duchamp, Whistler and Miro among others. Roth drew an image of his Rat Fink character acting out in a funny way on each painting while Jean Jacques Bastarache created the Master Fink underlying painting. The paintings in all can be seen in the book titled Rat Fink: The Art of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth published by Last Gasp in 1993.Roth, p. 191-194 The
Orbitron The Orbitron is a custom car built by Ed Roth and feared lost until its rediscovery in Mexico in 2007. Construction Built in 1964, the vehicle was powered by a 1955 or 1956 Chevrolet V8 and was backed by a Powerglide automatic transmission. The ...
, a Roth custom car that was the subject of a number of articles in automotive enthusiast magazines (most notably, in ''Car Craft'' magazine in 1965)Ganahl, pp. 123–125. which was feared lost in subsequent decades, was discovered in Mexico in the summer of 2008. The Orbitron was built in 1964. The car, in dilapidated, inoperative condition, had been parked for some time in front of an adult bookstore in
Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju� ...
. The owners of the shop were also the owners of the car. It was purchased and taken back to the United States by Michael Lightbourn, an American auto restorer who did business in Mexico. The Orbitron has been restored to its original condition by Beau Boeckmann. Roth was active in counterculture art and hot-rodding his entire adult life. At the time of his death in 2001, he was working on a hot-rod project involving a compact car planned as a departure from the dominant tuner performance modification style. The year after his death, he was named as one of the "50 Who Made a Difference" at the 50th annual Meguiar's Autorama in Detroit. He was also inducted into the show's "Circle of Champions" in 2000, and was showcased as its "Builder of the Year" in 2006.


Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos

Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos was a 1960s novelty music group led by Roth, who was known as Mr. Gasser. Formed in the early 1960s, they released a few bizarre
surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...
albums, most notably 1963's ''Hot Rod Hootenanny''. One Way Records released a two-CD set (S22-18319) containing the three LPs and the original artwork.


Roth and bikers

Roth had his shop, that he started in early 1959, at 4616 Slauson Avenue in Maywood, California (about 8 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles). He ran an ad in ''Car Craft'' magazine that year announcing the new address of his shop. During the mid 1960s, Roth associated with various
outlaw motorcycle club An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, ...
s who congregated at his shop as a lot of bikers were then living in Lynwood and Maywood. Musicians, police officers, FBI agents and various people involved in Hollywood would visit as well, providing an environment for one of Ed Roth's most creative periods, and an important time in Kustom Kulture. Roth incorporated the
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
into his artwork (surfers had previously been using the iron cross as a symbol of youthful, carefree rebellion). Roth did not own a bike at the time, so he bought a brand-new
Harley-Davidson Sportster The Harley-Davidson Sportster is a line of motorcycles produced continuously since 1957 by Harley-Davidson. Sportster models are designated in Harley-Davidson's product code by beginning with "XL". In 1952, the predecessors to the Sportster, the ...
and then proceeded to paint its gas tank a flat black color. Roth painted white lettering on one side of the tank that said: "Love is Hate"; and on the reverse side: "Hate is Love".Ganahl, p. 113. Roth had taken black and white photos of different bikers. He made posters, with titles like "Beautiful Buzzard", or "Gray Cat" out of these photos, and sold them at car shows. Roth would periodically give these bikers small amounts of money, but soon some of the bikers started to feel that Roth was "getting rich" off of them and they wanted a larger cut. Despite Roth's agreement, rumors began to circulate that a certain club intended to attack Roth's shop. The gang arrived at the shop with guns drawn, but Roth's crew defended themselves. Roth challenged the head biker to a one-on-one fist fight to settle matters in the middle of the shop. Eventually Roth gained the upper hand and "just started to beat the living crap out of the guy". After this incident, Roth burned his biker posters, leaving the lifestyle behind. Things started winding down at the shop in the late 1960s, and in 1970 the shop closed.Ganahl, p. 130.


Personal life and death

Ed Roth was married four times. His fourth wife, Ilene, lives in Manti, Utah, where Ed Roth spent the final years of his life. Roth joined
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
in 1974. Roth shaved off his goatee and was heavily involved in social work through his church. His brother Gordon also became a Latter-day Saint.Ganahl, p. 9. At a 1999 lecture given at
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
's Museum of Art, Roth shared some lessons he had learned in life: "accept criticism; if you can't do it get help; you don't need fancy tools or a fancy garage; and if you fulfill your duty Heavenly Father will bless you in what you do." Roth died of a heart attack on April 4, 2001 at the age of 69. Since his death, the official Rat Fink Reunion has been held in Manti, Utah the first weekend in June. The museum that Ilene Roth created to honor her late husband includes displays of Ed's art work and other memorabilia. Roth's son Darryl has been working on collecting and displaying his father's work.


See also

*
The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby ''The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby'' is the title of Tom Wolfe's first collected book of essays, published in 1965. The book is named for one of the stories in the collection that was originally published in ''Esquire magazine'' i ...
* Von Dutch


References


Sources consulted

* *


Notes


External links


Trailer at archive.org - Tales of The Rat Fink

RatFink.org was established by "Moldy Marvin" along with Ed "Big Daddy" Roth in the late 90s

''Tales of the Rat Fink''
(2006) Ron Mann documentary about Roth
Like a psychedelic trip



Obituary at MormonsToday

Obituary at amarillo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Ed American automobile designers American cartoonists Car restorers Kustom Kulture 1932 births 2001 deaths Artists from Los Angeles People from Bell, California People from Maywood, California People from Manti, Utah American Latter Day Saints Converts to Mormonism