Nick Galifianakis () is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and

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 ...

. Since 1997, he has drawn the cartoons for the nationally syndicated advice column ''Carolyn Hax,'' formerly, ''Tell Me About It'' – authored by his ex-wife, writer, and columnist for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'',

Carolyn Hax Carolyn Hanley Hax is an American writer and columnist for ''The Washington Post'' and author of the daily syndicated advice column, ''Carolyn Hax'' (formerly titled ''Tell Me About It''), which features broad relational advice. Originally targeti ...

. Galifianakis illustrated the book ''Tell Me About It: Lying, Sulking, Getting Fat ... and 56 Other Things NOT to Do While Looking for Love'', authored by Hax in 2001. He has illustrated a number of books by writer and novelist Andrew Postman – and was nominated by 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 ...

for the 2006

Reuben Award 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 ...

for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in the Newspaper Illustration category. In 2010, Nick's first book of his cartoons was published: ''If You Loved Me, You'd Think This Was Cute: Uncomfortably True Cartoons About You''. In 2012 Galifianakis won the

for Advertising Illustration. In 2014 he co-authored ''The Art of Richard Thompson'' with David Apatoff and

Bill Watterson William Boyd Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is a retired American cartoonist and the author of the comic strip ''Calvin and Hobbes'', which was syndicated from 1985 to 1995. Watterson stopped drawing ''Calvin and Hobbes'' at the end of 1995, ...

In May, 2017 – while also serving as the host of the 71st annual National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards – Nick was awarded a Reuben in the category of Newspaper Panel Cartoon for his work on "Nick & Zuzu."

Biography

Born in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, Galifianakis grew up in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Wash ...

, and attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

and

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

His career as a cartoonist followed earlier work as a cartoonist and illustrator for ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' and '' U.S. News & World Report'', and as a freelance cartoonist and illustrator with published illustrations in a variety of nationally distributed periodicals. Galifianakis is a first cousin of comedian

Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in ''Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show ''Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''Th ...

and nephew of former U. S. Representative

Nick Galifianakis Nick Galifianakis may refer to: *Nick Galifianakis (politician) (1928–2023), American congressman *Nick Galifianakis (cartoonist) Nick Galifianakis () is an American cartoonist and artist. Since 1997, he has drawn the cartoons for the national ...

. He and Hax married in 1994. Divorced in 2002, they continue to collaborate on the column. He has remarried and has a daughter, Katerina with Zach Galifianakis as her godfather.

Zuzu

Galifianakis's earlier work prominently featured his

pit bull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

, Zuzu, who died in August 2010. Zuzu was named after a character in the film ''

It's A Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas by medium#Films, Christmas Fantasy film, fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern se ...

'', the daughter of George Bailey – who gave him flower petals to carry in his pocket. In early 2011, Galifianakis said in an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

interview, "the reason the Zuzu cartoons are funny, or any cartoons that

anthropomorphize Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

an animal like that, that place it in a human dynamic, is that relationships with animals are generally good." In an August 2010 ''

'' tribute to Zuzu, Galifianakis wrote: "she died a week short of 13, rendering me more human than I had ever cared to be."

References

External links

Nick Galifianakis @ BloggerNick Galifianakis on InstagramToday on Nick & Zuzu at GoComicsThe Washington Post column: Carolyn HaxThe Art of Richard ThompsonIf You Loved Me, You'd Think This Was CuteArgie, Bubs Papafilippaki and Nick Galifianakis's Wedding WebsiteZack Galifianakis becomes Godfather in Crete
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galifianakis, Nicholas American cartoonists American people of Greek descent Artists from North Carolina

Nick Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

Living people People from Durham, North Carolina The Washington Post people 1962 births