Harry Kane (Kirchner) (July 2, 1912 - March 1988) was a twentieth century American illustrator and artist who was born Harry Kirchner and was of Russian/Jewish descent. Primarily known for his work on the children's books, "

The Three Investigators The Three Investigators is an American juvenile detective book series first published as "''Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators''". It was created by Robert Arthur Jr., who believed involving a famous person such as movie director Alfr ...

", he had a career that spanned over 50 years, doing work on paperback covers, advertising art, men's adventure magazines, movie posters and much more.

Early life

Kane was a self-taught artist who was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1912. When he was younger he would go to the zoo and draw animals. He was extremely knowledgeable about art history and contemporary art and his thirst to better his skills led him to books by

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. In 1894, he began ...

and

NC Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

, which he studied closely. Kane's career began during the

great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

when he and a few of his artist friends left Philadelphia for New York City. It was difficult to find employment during this time. However, Kane's talent was getting noticed and around 1930 and eventually opened the door to

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...

. One of his first paying jobs, drawing for ''Western Story Magazine''. Kane eventually married his wife Minna and they lived in Greenwich Village. When

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 ...

began and Kane was drafted and sent to Hawaii to be a map maker. In 1941, Harry and his wife had their first child, a son they named Eugene. They soon realized that their son was handicapped. Eugene would spend much of his life in an institution. As Kane was stationed in Hawaii, Minna was left to raise Eugene on her own. She petitioned the army to release Kane early to help with Eugene but to no avail. The war ended in 1945 and Kane returned home. Upon returning from the war, Harry and Minna saw the birth of their next child Hadiya in 1946, with another daughter, Janice, coming along not long after. In 1970 he and his wife Minna divorced. Harry spent much of his free time with his disabled son.

Professional years

When Harry returned from the war he found his job was no longer waiting for him, so he began taking freelance jobs. He did work for

Seagrams The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...

, Schlitz beer, Calso Gasoline Company, Phillip Morris and much more. In the mid-1960s

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

hired Harry to work on a new set of children's books called

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

and

. Harry worked on most of the covers and interiors of the first 16 books and the series proved to be very popular selling millions of copies.

Later years

In the 1980s Kane was semi-retired and living quietly until poor health forced Kane to move to a nursing home. Kane died of an

aneurism An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

in March 1988.

Bibliography

"Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" books drawn by Harry Kane: * # 1: ''

The Secret of Terror Castle ''The Secret of Terror Castle'' is an American juvenile detective novel written by Robert Arthur, Jr. It is the first book in the "Three Investigators" series. Plot Three boys are investigating a known haunted house, Terror Castle, in hopes tha ...

'' (1964) - Cover by Ed Vebell, interiors by Harry Kane * # 2: ''

The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot ''The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot'' is a 1964 American juvenile detective novel written by Robert Arthur, Jr. It is the second book in the "Three Investigators" series. Plot summary In only their second outing, the Three Investigators are ...

'' (1964)- Cover by Ed Vebell, interiors by Harry Kane * # 3: ''

The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy ''The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy'' is the third book in The Three Investigators series by Robert Arthur Jr. It was originally published in the United States by Random House in 1965. Library of Congress catalog number 99192344 . Plot summ ...

'' (1965) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 4: ''The Mystery of the Green Ghost'' (1965) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 5: ''

The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure ''The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure'' is an American juvenile detective novel written by Robert Arthur, Jr . It is the fifth book in the "Three Investigators The Three Investigators is an American juvenile detective book series first publ ...

'' (1966) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 6: ''The Secret of Skeleton Island'' (1966) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 7: ''The Mystery of the Fiery Eye'' (1967) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 8: ''

The Mystery of the Silver Spider ''The Mystery of the Silver Spider'' is a book in the ''Three Investigators'' series by Robert Arthur Jr. Plot In this episode, the Three Investigators almost run into Prince Djaro with their car. Djaro is the soon-to-be ruler of the fictional E ...

'' (1967) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 9: ''The Mystery of the Screaming Clock'' (1968) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 11: ''The Mystery of the Talking Skull'' (1969) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 12: ''The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow'' (1969) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 13: ''The Secret of the Crooked Cat'' (1970) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 14: ''The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon'' (1970) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 15: ''The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints'' (1971) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane * # 16: ''The Mystery of the Nervous Lion'' (1971) - Cover and interiors by Harry Kane

External links

The Life and Art of Harry Kane
His life's work and an interview with his daughter {{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Harry 1912 births 1988 deaths American illustrators Artists from Philadelphia Three Investigators