Harry Hershfield (October 13, 1885 – December 15, 1974) was an American cartoonist, humor writer and radio personality. He was known as "the Jewish Will Rogers". Hershfield also was a columnist for the ''

New York Daily Mirror The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the ''Evening Journal'' and ''N ...

''. His books include ''Laugh Louder, Live Longer'' and ''Now I'll Tell One''. As a comics artist he is best remembered for his newspaper comic ''

Abie the Agent ''Abie the Agent'' is an American comic strip about a Jewish car salesman by Harry Hershfield. It debuted in 1914. Publication history When Hershfield had success with a Yiddish character in his comic strip '' Desperate Desmond'', he was en ...

''.

Biography

He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on October 13, 1885 to Jewish immigrants. He studied in Chicago at the Frank Holmes School of Illustration and the

Chicago Art Institute The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. His career began at age 14, drawing sports cartoons and his comic strip about a dog, ''Homeless Hector'', for the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...

'' in 1899. He then went West, drawing for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' by 1907. He married Sarah Jane Isdell (?-1960). In 1909, he was hired by

Arthur Brisbane Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century as well as a real estate investor. He was also a speech writer, orator, and public relations professional who coach ...

to work for

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

's '' New York Evening Journal''. He switched to the ''New York Graphic'' where he drew ''If I'm Wrong, Sue Me!'', and when the ''Graphic'' folded, he went to the ''New York Herald Tribune'' and drew ''Meyer the Buyer''. During the 1930s, Hershfield was in demand as a banquet toastmaster, averaging some 200 banquets and dinners annually. During his lifetime, he was toastmaster or master of ceremonies at an estimated 16,000 events, including charity affairs, dinners and stage benefits. Involved in a legal battle with Hearst from 1933 to 1935, Hershfield drew a Sunday half-page, ''According to Hoyle'', for the ''

New York Herald-Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' during those years. On March 11, 1938, he was signed to manage the story department of MGM's cartoon studio. He later commented, "They were so glad to welcome me, the day I arrived they gave me a farewell dinner." He began radio work with a program named ''One Man's Opinion'' on

WMCA WMCA may refer to: *WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City * West Midlands Combined Authority, the combined authority of the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom *Wikimedia Canada The Wikimedia Foundation, ...

. The 15-minute program broadcast at midnight featured a "breezy review of shows he just left". Soon after he brought ''Abie the Agent'' to an end during 1940, he became a well-known radio personality, telling jokes on the programs '' Stop Me If You've Heard This One'' and '' Can You Top This?'' He was a frequent guest of early television programs during the 1950s.Gardner, Marilyn and Hy. "Glad You Asked", January 30, 1975.
/ref> He died on December 15, 1974 at Saint Clare's Hospital in Manhattan.

Strip bibliography

Names and dates from Holtz's ''American Newspaper Comics: An Enyclopedic Reference Guide'': * ''War's Ebb and Flow'' (weekdays, Jan 3 - Feb 14, 1906) - Chicago Daily News * ''Homeless Hector'' (weekdays, Jan 4, 1906 - Oct 20, 1908) - Chicago Daily News * ''Bill Slowguy'' (weekdays, Feb 8, 1906 - Oct 19, 1908) - Chicago Daily News * ''Christopher's Luck'' (weekdays, Oct 16 - Dec 23, 1907) - Chicago Daily News * ''Adventures of a Fly'' (weekdays, Nov 4 - Dec 3, 1907) - Chicago Daily News * ''Tiny Tinkles'' (weekdays, Jan 7-16, 1908) - Chicago Daily News * ''The Luck of Christopher'' (weekdays, Feb 18 - June 2, 1908) - Chicago Daily News * ''The Fortune Teller'' (weekdays, Apr 15 - Sept 16, 1908) - Chicago Daily News * ''The Piker's Rubaiyat'' (daily, Nov 11 - Dec 26, 1908) - San Francisco Chronicle * ''Raffles'' (daily, May 6–23, 1909) - San Francisco Chronicle * ''Desperate Desmond'' (daily, March 11, 1910 - Oct 15, 1912) - National News Association * ''Little Phillip'' (weekdays, 1911) - New York Journal * ''Dauntless Durham of the USA'' (daily, Jan 22, 1913 - Jan 31, 1914) - Hearst Syndicate * ''Abie the Agent'' (daily/Sundays, Feb 12, 1914 - 1940) - International Feature Syndicate for 1914-1932, King Features Syndicate for 1935-1940 * ''Hard Hearted Hickey'' (daily, Nov 6, 1927 - March 12, 1928, written as Darrell McClure) - Premier Syndicate * ''Vanilla and the Villains'' (daily, Sept 10, 1928 - 1930, written as Darrell McClure) - King Features Syndicate * ''Meyer the Buyer'' (daily/Sundays, Feb 15 - May 9, 1932) - New York Graphic * ''According to Hoyle'' (Sundays, March 4, 1934 - July 28, 1935) - New York Tribune Sunday toppers for ''Abie the Agent'': * ''Homeless Hector'' (reprise) (1912, 1927-1932) * ''Dictated But Not Read'' (1926) * ''Phooy Phables'' (1926)

Legacy

Ron Goulart, in ''Encyclopedia of American Comics'', described Hershfield's cartoon humor: :Hershfield drew in a vigorous, primitive cartoon style, and was enormously fond of shading, crosshatching and other basic inking techniques. Occasionally, he favored collages and sometimes made fun of other artists styles. In 1910, he started '' Desperate Desmond'', a humorous continuity strip burlesquing melodramas, dime novels, and fiction weeklies that went in for the hairbreadth rescue and gloating villain sort of material. In addition to the villainous, top-hatted Desmond, the strip featured the stalwart Claude Éclair and the put-upon blond heroine, Rosamond. Hershfield's enthusiastic kidding of this sort of cliffhanger hokum did little to sour the public on its conventions. However, within a few years, such motion picture serials as ''

The Exploits of Elaine ''The Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1914 American film serial in the damsel in distress genre of '' The Perils of Pauline'' (1914). ''The Exploits of Elaine'' tells the story of a young woman named Elaine who, with the help of a detective, tries to ...

'' and '' The Perils of Pauline'' would be attracting audiences to movie houses by doing the stuff completely straight. :In 1912, Hershfield switched heroes and introduced a new strip called ''Dauntless Durham of the U.S.A.'' Durham, a handsome, pipe-smoking combination of Sherlock Holmes, Nick Carter and

Frank Merriwell Frank Merriwell is a fictional character appearing in a series of novels and short stories by Gilbert Patten, who wrote under the pseudonym Burt L. Standish. The character appeared in over 300 dime novels between 1896 and 1930 (some between 1927 a ...

, was the soul of honor and polite to a fault. The object of his affection was the beautiful Katrina. In 1914, Hershfield abandoned parody for a quieter sort of humor and created ''

''. The strip continued until 1940 and dealt with contemporary Jewish life in a big city. Hershfield specialized in gags with a Yiddish flavor.Goulart, Ron. ''Encyclopedia of American Comics''. New York: Facts on File, 1990.
The character was animated for the movie ''Abie Kabibble Outwitted a Rival'' (1917).

References

External links

Harry Hershfield collection, 1896-1974 (bulk 1930s-1960s)
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum: Harry Hershfield Collection guideChristopher Wheeler Gallery: Harry Hershfield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hershfield, Harry 1885 births 1974 deaths Writers from Cedar Rapids, Iowa American humorists American radio personalities American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists Jewish American artists Artists from Cedar Rapids, Iowa The Lambs presidents

Biography

Strip bibliography

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links