Martin Michael Branner (December 28, 1888 – May 19, 1970), known to his friends as Mike Branner, was a cartoonist who created the popular comic strip ''

Winnie Winkle ''Winnie Winkle'' is an American comic strip published during a 76-year span (1920–1996). Ten film adaptations were also made. Its premise was conceived by Joseph Medill Patterson, but the stories and artwork were by Martin Branner, who wrote ...

''.

Early life

Branner was born in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

on December 28, 1888. He was a twin and one of nine children of Bernard Brenner, a Jewish immigrant lacemaker.

Career

Vaudeville

In 1905, Martin Branner was an assistant to two men who booked

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts. He was a dancer who met Edith Fabbrini (1892–1966) when he was 18 and she was 15. They married a few days after they met, and the couple then entered vaudeville as a dance team. Billed as Martin and Fabbrini, they spent 15 years performing in stock, musical comedy and vaudeville on the Keith Orpheum and

Pantages Alexander Pantages (Περικλῆς Ἀλέξανδρος Πανταζής , ''Periklis Alexandros Padazis''; 1867 – February 17, 1936) was a Greek American vaudeville impresario and early film producer, motion picture producer. He created ...

circuits. In Manhattan, Martin and Fabbrini played the Palace Theater the second week it opened, and they often made return engagements. Some of Branner's earliest artwork was published during this period when he did advertising illustrations for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. Two shows a day sometimes increased to three and more shows daily, but bookings for the dance team became fewer during and following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

World War I and a career transition

Branner served his

military duty with the

Chemical Warfare Service The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activities that until ...

of the U.S. Army. On his return after World War I, he left vaudeville and launched a new career as a cartoonist in 1919, beginning with a short-lived strip, ''Looie the Lawyer'', for the

Bell Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

. He followed with a

Sunday page 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 ...

, ''Pete and Pinto'', which ran for 20 weeks in the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'' and '' The Sun''.

''Winnie'' begins

Branner launched '' Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner'' as a

daily strip A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. Bud Fisher's ''Mutt and Jeff'' is commonly regarded as the first daily c ...

in September 1920, followed by a Sunday page in 1923. Edith Branner served as the model for the character of Winnie Winkle. Branner's 1934 to 1936 assistant was the French cartoonist

Robert Velter François Robert Velter (; 9 February 1909 – 27 April 1991), known by his pen-name Rob-Vel (), was a French cartoonist. He is best known for creating the character '' Spirou'' in 1938. Biography Like ''Spirou'', Velter began his career as ...

. By 1939, ''Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner'' was printed in 125 newspapers in America and Europe for a combined circulation of more than eight and a half million. The title was shortened to ''Winnie Winkle'' in 1943. After Velter, Branner's long-time assistant was Max Van Bibber, who took over ''Winnie Winkle'' after Branner suffered a stroke in 1962. Following the stroke, Branner began to use a wheelchair. Without the use of his right hand, he continued to draw with his left.

Personal life

Branner was a noted wit and drew on his vaudeville background for some gags appearing in his cartoons. After they retired their dance act, the Branners became the parents of Bernard Donald Branner and the art historian

Robert Branner Robert Branner (January 13, 1927 – November 26, 1973) was an American art historian, archaeologist, and educator. A scholar of medieval art, specializing in Gothic architecture and illuminated manuscripts, Branner was Professor of Art History a ...

. Martin Branner converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

shortly after leaving the stage. Martin and Edith Branner lived at 27 Riverside Drive in

Waterford, Connecticut Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,571 at the 2020 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) and had a population of 3,074 ...

, and they were the designers of Waterford's town

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

. During their many visits to

, the Branners enjoyed living in hotels; they were frequent guests at the

Iroquois Hotel The Iroquois Hotel New York is located at 49 West 44th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of six hotels owned by Shimmie Horn and Gerald Barad under the Triumph Hotels br ...

, which Branner called "the poor man's

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

." The Branner family usually spent summers boating and swimming in Connecticut. In 1957, Branner was a guest challenger on the television panel show '' To Tell the Truth''.

Death

Branner died at age 81 on May 19, 1970, at the Nutmeg Pavilion Convalescent Home in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

Awards

Branner wrote and drew ''Winnie Winkle'' from 1920 to 1962, receiving 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 ...

Humor Comic Strip Award in 1958.

Books

''Winnie Winkle and the Diamond Heirlooms'' by Branner and Helen Berke was a 248-page hardcover novel published by Whitman in 1946.

References

External links

An inventory of his cartoons at Syracuse UniversityBilly Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art DatabaseNational Cartoonists Society: Martin Branner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branner, Martin 1888 births 1970 deaths Chicago Tribune people American comic strip cartoonists Vaudeville performers