Robert P. Gregory (October 20, 1921 – December 5, 2003) was an American comics artist and writer best known for writing and drawing hundreds of Gold Key comics starring the Disney comics character Donald Duck.
Biography
Bob Gregory attended the
Otis Art Institute
Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aerospace headquarte ...
and fought in
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 opposing ...
before working as a technical illustrator for an
aircraft manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology indust ...
. He began submitting art sketches to
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and ...
, for which he began freelancing on a steady basis in 1958 — first as a writer, then as a writer-artist both writer and artist — on many of Western's
talking animal
A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...
comics, including the Donald Duck comics produced under license by Dell and Western's Gold Key Comics.
Gregory produced hundreds of Disney comics stories for many publications, including '' Donald Duck'', '' Daisy Duck's Diary'', ''
Junior Woodchucks
The Junior Woodchucks of the World is a fictional scouting organization appearing in Disney comics and the '' DuckTales'' animated television franchise, most notably in adventures featuring Disney characters Huey, Dewey, and Louie as members.
Th ...
'', ''
Uncle Scrooge
''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...
'', ''
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories
''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Chi ...
'', '' Walt Disney's Christmas Parade'', and Brazil's '' Zé Carioca''.
He introduced the Billionaires Club of Duckburg, where Scrooge McDuck is a member, in the story ''The Christmas Cha Cha'' (''Dell Giant'' #26, Nov 1959), written by Gregory and illustrated by Carl Barks. He started doing ''
Aristocats
''The Aristocats'' is a 1970 American animated romantic musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. The 20th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom R ...
'' stories in the 1970s, when he also penciled most issues of ''Daisy and Donald'', co-starring Daisy Duck.
His World War II memoirs, ''Letters from the South Pacific'', was published in 1996.
The official cause of death was listed as
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...