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Saturday, May 31, 2008

Cartoonist Legend Mel Casson Dies at 87

Cartoonist legend Mel Casson, the writer and illustrator of the comic strip
“Redeye,” died on May 21 at his Westport home. He was 87.

Casson was a 40-year Westport resident and lived on Guyer Road. For almost
20 years Casson illustrated “Redeye,” a parody strip about a 19th century
tribe of Native Americans, for King Features Syndicate.

When cartoonist Bill Yates, who wrote the “Redeye” scripts, retired in
1999, Casson assumed full writing and drawing duties of the strip.

“King Features has been very fortunate to represent the work of Mel Casson
over the years,” said Brendan Burford, King Features comics editor. “He put
great care and craft into his cartoons, adding to the beauty of the comics
page every day. He will be sorely missed.”

Casson was born in Boston on July 25, 1920. He was encouraged by his father
to pursue a career in art. Seventeen-year-old Casson was the youngest
cartoonist ever to sign a contract with the Saturday Evening Post.

He received a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York City and
while there, his artwork began to appear regularly in the Saturday Evening
Post, Esquire, The New York Times, Ladies Home Journal, and nearly every
other major magazine.

Casson enlisted in the infantry for service in World War II and made the
Normandy Landing on D-Day. His commander was killed instantly upon reaching
Omaha Beach, making Casson next in line to lead the attack.

Casson successfully led his men through the assault without casualties and
went on to participate in all the major campaigns in Europe. For his valor,
he was promoted to the rank of Captain and decorated with five battle
stars: two Bronze stars, the Croix de Guerre and two Purple Hearts.

After returning home from service, Casson’s first strip was “Jeff Crockett”
for the Herald Tribune Syndicate, which appeared between 1948 and 1952.

His career at the drawing board was interrupted once again when the
Communists invaded South Korea and he was recalled to active duty.

After an honorable discharge, Casson’s career at the drawing board resumed
once again with the creation of the children’s panels “Sparky” and “Angel”
for the Publisher/Chicago Sun Times Syndicate, which ran between 1953 and
1966.

He co-created with cartoonists Alfred James and Alfred Andriola (“Kerry
Drake”) on the strip “It’s Me Dilly” from 1958 to 1962.

He was a writer-producer for ABC-TV where he created the television shows
“Draw Me a Laugh” and “You Be the Judge.”

He had five cartoon books published, including the anthology “Ever Since
Adam and Eve” for McGraw Hill, the Whole Kids Catalogue, and the Guinness
Record Keeper. His cartoons appeared in every national magazine and his
drawings in advertisements for IBM, GE, Kodak and Black & Decker.

In the 1970’s, Casson worked with cartoonist William F. Brown on the trendy
“Mixed Singles” strip, which later evolved into “Boomer” and appeared until
1981 with United Feature Syndicate.

In 1990, Casson became the new artist of the internationally famous
“Redeye” daily comic for King Features Syndicate, which he took over from
its creator, Gordon Bess. Casson worked with Bill Yates on the panel until
1999.

Casson’s drawings are included in the collection of the Evansville, Ind.,
Fine Arts Museum and in the Albert T. Reid collection at the University of
Kansas. His work was twice exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City.

All his personal papers and original drawings are available for study in
the graphics library of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, with those
of his mentor and best friend Milton Caniff of the famed strips “Steve
Canyon” and “Terry and the Pirates.”

Casson served on the Board of Governors of both the Newspaper Comics
Council, where he was chairman of the 1964-65 World’s Fair Committee. and
on the board of the National Cartoonists Society, whose Connecticut Chapter
presented him the Legend Award in November 2003.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Lee Culver Casson, a former opera singer
and actress, daughter Culver and grandchildren Remington Paris Cheffer and
Lulu Culver Cheffer.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to the
Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.