Gilbert Theodore Fox (November 29, 1915 – May 15, 2004) was an American

political cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...

ist,

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

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 ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

, and

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

Biography

Fox began his career in animation at

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

's studio, but left due to labor unrest associated with a 1937 strike. He entered the comic book industry, working for a number of studios and companies, including

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. During this period he was an editor and a cover artist for

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

, with his work gracing the covers of such titles as '' Torchy'' and ''

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of the first superheroes to ...

''. In 1941, he wrote several weeks of continuity for the ''

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

'' daily

newspaper 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 c ...

. A 1941 comic book written by Gill Fox, describing a German attack on Pearl Harbor, was published one month before the real-life Japanese attack on that U.S. naval base. He left his editorial position at Quality in 1943 to serve in

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 ...

, where he worked for '' Stars and Stripes''. Once discharged from military service, Fox freelanced for Quality Comics until the early 1950s. Fox later moved to

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, working for the

Johnstone and Cushing Johnstone and Cushing was an American advertising agency that specialized in comic strip-style advertisements that used many prominent cartoonists and commercial artists of the time. Until its dissolution in 1962, the New York City-based company ...

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

. There he met

Dik Browne Richard Arthur Allan Browne (August 11, 1917 – June 4, 1989) was an American cartoonist, best known for writing and drawing ''Hägar the Horrible'' and ''Hi and Lois''. Biography Browne attended Cooper Union and got his start at the ''New York ...

, and assisted him on Browne's comic strip ''

Hi and Lois ''Hi and Lois'' is an American comic strip about a suburban family. Created by Mort Walker and illustrated by Dik Browne, both of whose offspring currently work on the strip, it debuted on October 18, 1954, distributed by King Features Syndicate.Ro ...

''. He also assisted/ ghosted on several other strips as favors to friends. Fox later worked as a political cartoonist for the

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

newspapers ''

The Fairfield Citizen ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and the ''

Connecticut Post The ''Connecticut Post'' is a daily newspaper located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It serves Fairfield County and the Lower Naugatuck Valley. Municipalities in the Post's circulation area include Ansonia, Bridgeport, Darien, Derby, Easton, ...

''; he was nominated for two

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

s. He died in

Redding Ridge, Connecticut Redding is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Early settlement and establishment At the time c ...

, at age 88.

Personal life and family

Fox was the brother of the illustrator

Lorraine Fox Lorraine Fox (1922–1976) was an American illustrator and commercial artist who illustrated magazines, book covers, and advertisements. Among the magazines she illustrated for were ''Woman's Day'', ''Good Housekeeping'', '' Redbook'', ''McCall's ...

.Fox in Circa 1940, Gill Fox married Helen Fittipaldi, who died in 1998. They had two children, daughters Donna Morency and Susan Fox.

References

External links

*
Sally Taft Duplaix Collection
at the

Mortimer Rare Book Collection The Mortimer Rare Book Collection (MRBC) is the rare books collection of Smith College. Along with the Sophia Smith Collection and Smith College Archives, it makes up Smith College Special Collections. The collection supports both general researc ...

, Smith College Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Gill 1915 births 2004 deaths American comics artists American editorial cartoonists American animators Fleischer Studios people Comic book editors Golden Age comics creators Inkpot Award winners United States Army personnel of World War II