Charles David Saxon (November 13, 1920 – December 6, 1988) was an American
cartoonist known for his work for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''.
Early life
Saxon was born Charles David Isaacson in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
;
both his parents were musicians, and his great-uncle had been court violinist to the British
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
.
Career and education
He played drums and worked in jazz bands while at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, which he entered at 15;
[ he became editor of its humor magazine, '' Jester''.][
After earning his B.A. he worked at Dell Publishing as editor of the satire magazine '']Ballyhoo
The ballyhoo halfbeak or ballyhoo (''Hemiramphus brasiliensis'') is a baitfish of the halfbeak family (Hemiramphidae). It is similar to the Balao halfbeak (''H. balao'') in most features. Ballyhoo are frequently used as cut bait and for trollin ...
'' before serving as a bomber pilot in the Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
during 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 ...
, flying 40 missions over Germany.[ After the war he rejoined Dell, left to edit '' This Week'' for a year, and returned to edit '']Modern Screen
''Modern Screen'' was an American fan magazine that for over 50 years featured articles, pictorials and interviews with film stars (and later television and music personalities).
Founding
''Modern Screen'' magazine debuted on November 3, 193 ...
''.[ He also began drawing cartoons on weekends, selling them to '']The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...
''. His first appearance in ''The New Yorker'' was a spot illustration in 1943; after becoming a full-time cartoonist in 1955, he joined their staff in 1956 and over more than 30 years drew 92 covers and more than 700 cartoons for the magazine.[ Much of his ''New Yorker'' work gently pokes fun at the privileged denizens of prosperous suburbs; unusually, he wrote his own words, often highlighting clichés, as in an image of well-fed executives in a boardroom, the chairman stating "Of course, honesty is one of the better policies."][ After ''The New Yorker'' was taken over and ]William Shawn
William Shawn ('' né'' Chon; August 31, 1907 – December 8, 1992) was an American magazine editor who edited ''The New Yorker'' from 1952 until 1987.
Early life and education
Shawn was born William Chon on August 31, 1907, in Chicago, Illino ...
left the editorship, his work was rarely published there.[ He published three collections of his cartoons for the magazine: ''Oh, Happy, Happy, Happy!'' (1960), ''One Man's Fancy'' (1970), and ''Honesty Is One of the "Better" Policies: Saxon's World of Business'' (1984).
Saxon also drew numerous ads, including for Chivas Regal, ]American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
, Bankers Trust
Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corpo ...
, IBM, and Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...
.[ As his obituary in '']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 d ...
'' noted, "So ubiquitous was his advertising work in the late 1970s that one edition of ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' featured ads by Mr. Saxon for three different companies."[
Saxon had one-man shows at the Nicholls Gallery. He was awarded a gold medal by the ]Art Directors Club of New York
The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award for ...
in 1963 and an honorary doctorate by Hamilton College
Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...
in 1972.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 1980.[
]
Personal life
He was married to Nancy Lee Saxon, '' née'' Rogers, a sculptor and portraitist, and illustrated her children's books; they had three children.[
]
Death
Saxon died of heart failure on December 6, 1988, at St. Joseph Medical Center in Stamford, Connecticut.[ He spoke his last words to paramedics after suffering a heart attack at home: "I guess I'd better die; I just broke our best lamp."][Murphy, p. 189.]
References
External links
Finding aid to the Charles Saxon papers at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Obituary
by Lee Lorenz
Lee Sharp Lorenz (October 17, 1932 – December 8, 2022) was an American cartoonist most notable for his work in ''The New Yorker''.
Early life and education
Lorenz was born on October 17, 1932 in Hackensack, New Jersey. After studying at Nor ...
, ''The New Yorker'', December 26, 1988, p. 98 (subscription required)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxon, Charles
1920 births
1988 deaths
American cartoonists
The New Yorker cartoonists
Reuben Award winners
Columbia University alumni
United States Army Air Forces officers
United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II
Artists from Brooklyn