Thomas Jefferson Machamer (1900 – August 15, 1960[1]) was an American cartoonist and illustrator known especially for his drawings of glamorous women. He also wrote and acted in a series of short comedy films in the 1930s.
After graduating from theUniversity of Nebraska Machamer became a staff artist forThe Kansas City Star newspaper.[2] In 1922 he moved to New York City and joined the staff of the humor magazineJudge.[2]
From 1928 until 1930 he wrote and drew a comic strip forKing Features Syndicate calledPetting Patty, initially as a daily strip and later also as a Sunday color feature. In 1932, his comic stripGags and Gals made its debut in theNew York Mirror. This strip proved a greater popular success, and ran until 1938.[3] According to Dan Nadel,Gags and Gals displayed the elements that typified most of Machamer's work: "beautiful dominant women, broad shouldered and impeccably dressed, accompanied by hapless, unattractive men, sometimes short and mustachioed, with just a tuft of hair atop a bald pate—apparently a self portrait."[2] Machamer's style has been compared to that ofRussell Patterson, who may have influenced him.[4]
In 1946, Machamer published a how-to book for aspiring cartoonists,Laugh and Draw with Jefferson Machamer.[2] Beginning in the 1940s, he also operated a correspondence course from his home.[2]
He is mentioned inJohn O'Hara's 1935 novelBUtterfield 8: "'I'll be over before you can say Jefferson Machamer.' 'Jefferson Machamer,' she said."[5]
Between 1936 and 1938, Machamer wrote and acted in a series of short comic films made byEducational Pictures, includingComic Artist's Home Life,Wanna Be a Model?, andCute Crime.
Machamer was born in westernNebraska.[6] From 1934 until his death he was married to the actressPauline Moore, with whom he had three children.[7]
Jefferson Machamer died inSanta Monica, California on August 15, 1960.
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