Henry Mayer (18 July 1868 – 27 September 1954), often seen as Hy Mayer in signatures, using the traditional abbreviation for Henry, was a German-American cartoonist and animator. Mayer was born in

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

, Germany, the son of a Jewish merchant from London. After working as a magazine illustrator in Munich, Paris (''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

Illustré''), and London (''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed in ...

''), he emigrated to the United States in 1886. In 1893 he moved to New York, and illustrated a number of children's books. He was a political cartoonist for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' from 1904, and then in 1914 chief cartoonist of '' Puck''. From 1909 to 1917 he contributed artwork to early films such as the ''Universal Animated Weekly''

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

series. He created and directed the original "Travelaughs" series, released through

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

from 1913 to 1920, and the "Such Is Life" series, with titles ''Such Is Life at a County Fair'' (1921) and ''Such Is Life in Munich'' (1922), released by

Film Booking Offices of America Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), registered as FBO Pictures Corp., was an American film studio of the silent era, a midsize producer and distributor of mostly low-budget films. The business began in 1918 as Robertson-Cole, an Anglo-Americ ...

from 1920 to 1926. These two short subject film series combined animation with

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

film taken in exotic locations. He is credited with directing over 100 short films from 1913 to 1926.Lenburg, Jeff (2006
''Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators''
Hal Leonard Corp .. p. 227. Mayer also worked with

Otto Messmer Otto James Messmer (August 16, 1892 – October 28, 1983) was an American animator known for his work on the Felix the Cat cartoons and comic strip produced by the Pat Sullivan studio. The extent of Messmer's role in the creation and populari ...

on the series ''The Travels of Teddy'', satirizing President Teddy Roosevelt, before Messmer left to work with producer Pat Sullivan on the long-running

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...

animation series. He died in

South Norwalk South Norwalk is a neighborhood in Norwalk, Connecticut which corresponds to the city's Second Taxing District. Often referred to as SoNo, the neighborhood was originally settled as Old Well, then chartered as the city of South Norwalk on August ...

, Connecticut, United States.

References

External links

*
Henry "Hy" Mayer
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog * *
Henry Mayer
director at Complete Index to World Film
In Laughland
digitized by Loyola University New Orleans {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Henry Hy 1868 births 1954 deaths American animators American cartoonists People from Worms, Germany