Ernest Paul Bushmiller Jr. (August 23, 1905 – August 15, 1982) was an American cartoonist, best known for creating the daily

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 ...

'' Nancy'', which premiered in 1938 and features the title character who has remained in print for over 85 years. His work is noted for its simple graphic style. In 1976, he received 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 ...

from the

National Cartoonists 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 ...

for his work on ''Nancy''.

Childhood and training

Born in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Bushmiller was the son of immigrant parents, Ernest George Bushmiller Sr. and Elizabeth Hall, originally from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

respectively. His father was an artist, vaudevillian and bartender. He briefly attended Theodore Roosevelt High School"'Nancy' took Ernie Bushmiller into big time of comic strips' Owensboro, Kentucky Inquirer, 30 June 1948 p. 3 before leaving at 14 to work as a copy boy at the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...

'' newspaper, while attending evening art classes at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

. He ran errands for the staff cartoonists and was given occasional illustration assignments, including a Sunday feature by Harry Houdini.Harvey, R. C. "The Lawrence Welk of Cartoonists: Ernie, Nancy, and the Bushmiller Society". ''The Comics Journal'', April 10, 2012.
/ref>
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Comic strips

In May 1925, cartoonist Larry Whittington, creator of the comic strip ''

Fritzi Ritz ''Fritzi Ritz'' is an American comic strip created in 1922 by Larry Whittington. In 1925, the strip was taken over by Ernie Bushmiller and, in 1938, the daily strip evolved into the popular '' Nancy''. The Sunday edition of the strip, begun by B ...

'', left to produce another strip, ''Mazie the Model''. Bushmiller then took over, his name first appearing on the May 18 strip. ''Fritzi Ritz'' was expanded to a

Sunday strip The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

on October 6, 1929. Bushmiller had already been producing a comic strip for the ''New York Evening Graphic'' titled ''Mac the Manager''. Once he began to move away from Whittington's depiction of Fritzi, Bushmiller began to model her after his fiance, Abby Bohnet, the daughter of a train conductor. The couple, who married July 9, 1930, had no children. In 1931, they headed for Hollywood, where Bushmiller wrote gags for

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film co ...

's ''

Movie Crazy ''Movie Crazy'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code comedy film starring Harold Lloyd in his third sound feature. The film's copyright was renewed in 1959. Plot Harold Hall, a young man with little or no acting ability, desperately wants to be in the ...

'', continuing to draw ''Fritzi Ritz'' at the same time. A year later, they returned to the Bronx.Markstein, Don. Toonopedia: ''Fritzi Ritz''
/ref> Bushmiller claimed in 1948 that "All my characters are conceived in desperation." He introduced Nancy, Fritzi's niece, to the strip on January 2, 1933. The character proved popular, so she appeared more often. As Aunt Fritzi was seen less frequently, the strip was eventually retitled '' Nancy'' in 1938. The popular strip was translated into various languages, including Italian, German, Swedish and Norwegian. ''Phil Fumble'' is a Bushmiller strip which ran from 1932 through 1938. Bushmiller started working each day about 2pm, and he often sat at his drawing table well into the early morning hours of the next day. He usually began a strip with the last panel and then worked back toward the first panel. In 1960 he told a reporter: The simplicity of his style brought praise from

Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...

and other artists. Tom Smucker, writing in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', observed: As

Paul Karasik Paul Karasik ( ; born 1956)Kartalopoulos, Bill''Indy'' magazine (Spring 2004). is an American cartoonist, editor, and teacher, notable for his contributions to such works as ''City of Glass: The Graphic Novel'', ''The Ride Together: A Memoir of A ...

and

Mark Newgarden Mark Newgarden (born August 1, 1959, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American underground cartoonist. His work has appeared widely, and his influential shape-shifting weekly feature ''Newgarden'', which appeared in alternative weekly newspapers lik ...

noted in their essay, "

How to Read Nancy "How to Read ''Nancy''" is an essay by Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik, originally published in ''The Best of Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy'' by Brian Walker (Henry Holt/Comicana, 1988). The piece examines the comic strip ''Nancy'', focusing on Bushm ...

": Comics theorist Scott McCloud described the essence of Bushmiller and his creation: In 1979, Bushmiller was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

, but he continued to produce the strip with the help of assistants Will Johnson and

Al Plastino Alfred John Plastino (December 15, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American comics artist best known as one of the most prolific Superman artists of the 1950s, along with his DC Comics colleague Wayne Boring. Plastino also worked as a comics w ...

. He lived in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, where he died in 1982.

Awards

Bushmiller, one of the founding members of the

, received its Humor Comic Strip Award and its

in 1976 for his work on ''Nancy.'' In 2011, Bushmiller was listed as a Judges' Choice for

The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame The following is a list of winners of the Eisner Award, sorted by category. The Eisner Awards have been presented since 1988, but there were no Eisner Awards in 1990 due to balloting mix-ups."Eisners Cancelled," ''The Comics Journal'' #137 (Sept. ...

Legacy

Nancy remains a recognised and popular character, drawn by other artists since Bushmiller's death, most recently by the pseudonymous 'Olivia Jaimes'. Bushmiller's work has been repeatedly addressed by other artists:

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

made a 1961 painting based on ''Nancy'', and

Joe Brainard Joe Brainard (March 11, 1942 – May 25, 1994) was an American artist and writer associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs for book ...

made numerous works based on ''Nancy''. Many cartoonists have produced work directly inspired by or commenting on Bushmiller's art, including

Chris Ware Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American cartoonist known for his ''Acme Novelty Library'' series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels ''Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), ''Building Stories'' (2012 ...

and '' Zippy'' cartoonist

Bill Griffith William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited to ...

, who has also written an essay on Bushmiller. Griffith revealed in the August 19, 2020 '' Zippy'' striphttp://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/2020/images/081920.gif that he is writing and drawing a graphic biography of Bushmiller, to be published in fall 2021. The ''

American Heritage Dictionary American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'' uses a Bushmiller ''Nancy'' strip to illustrate its entry for "comic strip."

References

External links