Melvyn Keefer (July 2, 1926 – February 11, 2022) was an American comics artist and illustrator. Best known for the comic strip ''

Mac Divot ''Mac Divot'' was an American syndicated comic strip written by Jordan Lanski and drawn by Mel Keefer, and distributed by Chicago Tribune Syndicate. History The strip was originally called ''Links Driver'', and debuted in ''Chicago Tribune '' ...

'', he was a lifetime

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual c ...

inductee.

Life and career

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Keefer trained as an illustrator at the

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

School of Art run by

Jefferson Machamer Thomas Jefferson Machamer (1900 – August 15, 1960) was an American cartoonist and illustrator known especially for his drawings of glamorous women. He also wrote and acted in a series of short comedy films in the 1930s. Career as an illustrator ...

and the

ArtCenter College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

. He made his debut as a comics artist drawing ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'' for

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

. He is best known for the long-running golf-themed series ''

'', which he created together with Jordan Lanski for the

Chicago Tribune Syndicate Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media S ...

and which ran for twenty years starting from 1955. Other comic strips Keefer has worked in include ''Thorne McBride ''(1960–1963), ''

Rick O'Shay ''Rick O'Shay'' is a Western comic strip created by Stan Lynde, which debuted as a Sunday strip on April 27, 1958. The daily comic strip began on May 19 of the same year.

'' (which he drew between 1978 and 1981) and the comic versions of '' Dragnet'' and ''

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

''. Besides his activity as a cartoonist, Keefer also worked as an illustrator for books, magazines and other publications. He authored the artwork of the

Richard Quine Richard Quine (November 12, 1920June 10, 1989) was an American director, actor, and singer. He began acting as a child in radio, vaudeville, and stage productions before being signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in his early twenties. When his acting ...

's film ''

How to Murder Your Wife ''How to Murder Your Wife'' is a 1965 American black comedy film from United Artists, produced by George Axelrod, directed by Richard Quine, that stars Jack Lemmon and Virna Lisi. Quine also directed Lemmon in ''My Sister Eileen'', ''It Happened ...

''. In 2007, Keefer was awarded a lifetime

for his career. Keefer died on February 11, 2022, at the age of 95.

References

External links

Mel Keefer
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Mel Keefer
at

Inducks The International Network of Disney Universe Comic Knowers and SourcesFrom Inducks lecture
held at ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keefer, Mel 1926 births 2022 deaths American comics artists American illustrators Artists from Los Angeles Art Center College of Design alumni 20th-century American male artists