| George McManus | |
|---|---|
 McManus having a coffee in 1952 | |
| Born | (1884-01-23)January 23, 1884 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | October 22, 1954(1954-10-22) (aged 70) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
Notable works | Bringing Up Father |
| Spouse(s) | Florence Bergere |
George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) was an Americancartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicatedcomic strip,Bringing Up Father.
Born inSt. Louis, Missouri, of Irish parents, McManus had an innate gift for drawing and a sense of humor. He recalled an incident when he was in high school: "My teacher sent home to my parents a picture I had drawn of a classmate named Sweeney. 'This is what your boy has been doing,' the teacher wrote, icily. I laid the note in Pop's lap and headed wearily for the woodshed. But Pop, instead, put on his hat and coat and went to the editor ofThe Republican. He showed [my drawing of] Sweeney to the editor. Next day I had a job onThe Republican at $5 a week—as an errand boy."
AtThe Republican, he created his first comic strip,Alma and Oliver. In 1904, after winning $3000 at the racetrack, he went toNew York City and a job with the prestigiousNew York World, where he worked on several short-lived comic strips, includingSnoozer,The Merry Marcelene,Ready Money Ladies,Cheerful Charlie,Nibsy the Newsboy in Funny Fairyland,Panhandle Pete andLet George Do It.[1][2]
In 1904, McManus created the first American family comic strip,The Newlyweds, about an elegant young couple and their baby Snookums. The popularity of the strip prompted the management ofThe New York American to invite McManus to work for their newspaper. He began working for them in 1912. RenamingThe Newlyweds asTheir Only Child, he continued that strip and began other daily strips:Rosie's Beau,Love Affairs of a Mutton Head,Spareribs And Gravy andBringing Up Father.[2]
Syndicated internationally byKing Features Syndicate,Bringing Up Father achieved great success and was produced by McManus from 1913 until his death, whenVernon Greene and Frank Fletcher replaced him. McManus was inspired byThe Rising Generation, a musical comedy by William Gill that he had seen as a boy inSt. Louis,Missouri'sGrand Opera House, where his father was manager. InThe Rising Generation, Irish-American bricklayer Martin McShayne (played by the fat Irish comedian Billy Barry in the stage production McManus saw) becomes a wealthy contractor, yet his society-minded wife and daughter were ashamed of him and his buddies, prompting McShayne to sneak out to join his pals for poker. McManus knew Barry and used him as the basis for his drawings of Jiggs. Two years before his death, McManus said thatBringing Up Father had earned him $12,000,000 during his lifetime.
McManus's wife, the former Florence Bergere, was the model for daughter Nora inBringing Up Father.Zeke Zekley was his assistant on the comic strip from 1935 to 1954.
For his contribution to American humor,Roanoke College honored McManus with an honorary degree,Doctor of Humane Letters.
During the 1940s, McManus lived at 8905 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. He died in 1954 inSanta Monica, California and was interred in theWoodlawn Cemetery inThe Bronx, New York City.[3]
Jiggs serves as insignia of theU.S. Air Force's11th Bomb Squadron, with whom McManus served duringWorld War I. In 1995, the comic strip was one of 20 included in the "Comic Strip Classics" series of commemorative United Statespostage stamps.
