Happy Birthday Frank Thorne, born June 16, 1930!
Stroud: You’ve done syndicated strip work on Perry Mason. How did that come about?
Thorne: I was 20 years old and walked in to King Features with my samples, they gave me the Perry Mason Daily and Sunday.
Stroud: Was it a good gig? A strip seemed to be the holy grail back in the day.
Thorne: The pay was huge! We bought a house and a yellow convertible.
Stroud: What was your typical production rate?
Thorne: I knocked the daily and Sunday (which I hand colored) each week for near two years.
Frank becomes the newest member of our Senior Strippers club,
cartoonists who for 90+ years continue to survive “the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”
Below is, as best as I can determine, a list of cartoonists who continue to carry on past 90 years.
cartoonist ERNIE POIGNANT February 4, 1919
comic book and comic strip cartoonist AL JAFFEE March 13, 1921
comic book artist LILY RENEE PHILIPS May 12, 1921
comic book and comic strip artist BOB FUJITANI October 15, 1921
gag and comic strip cartoonist ROGER BRADFIELD September 24, 1924
editorial cartoonist JIM IVEY April 25 15, 1925
gag cartoonist HENRY MARTIN July 15, 1925
cartoonist and illustrator SANDY KOSSIN June 4, 1926
gag cartoonist GEORGE BOOTH June 28, 1926
comic book and comic strip artist MEL KEEFER July 2, 1926
cartoonist EMIL V. ABRAHAMIAN September 1, 1926
comic book artist FRANK GIUSTO September 6, 1926
comic book and comic strip artist RAMONA FRADON October 2, 1926
comic book, comic strip, gag cartoonist ORLANDO BUSINO October 10, 1926
comic book artist JOE SINNOTT October 16, 1926
illustrator HILARY KNIGHT November 1, 1926
comic book and comic strip cartoonist HY EISMAN March 27, 1927
comic book and comic strip artist YAROSLAV HORAK June 12, 1927
illustrator and comic book artist MORT KUNSTLER August 28, 1927
comic book and comic strip cartoonist JACK KATZ September 27, 1927
comic book and comic strip artist SY BARRY March 12, 1928
comic strip artist SYDNEY JORDAN May 28, 1928 (1931?)
comic book cartoonist BOB BOLLING June 9, 1928
comic book and comic strip artist JOE GIELLA June 27, 1928
comic book and gag cartoonist DON OREHEK August 9, 1928
cartoonist JULES FEIFFER January 26, 1929
cartoonist ARNOLD ROTH February 25, 1929
cartoonist PAUL COKER March 5, 1929
caricaturist and illustrator EDWARD SOREL March 26, 1929
editorial cartoonist ART VAN RHYN April, 1929
humorist FRANK JACOBS May 30, 1929
cartoonist and puzzle maker DICK ROGERS June 19, 1929
comic book artist VIC CARRABOTTA June 24, 1929
comic book artist DON PERLIN August 27, 1929
comic strip and gag cartoonist FRANK HILL September 10, 1929
comic book writer and editor SID JACOBSON October 20, 1929
editorial cartoonist CHARLIE DANIEL December 14, 1929
comic book artist JOHN ROMITA January 24, 1930
political and gag cartoonist KENNETH MAHOOD February 4, 1930
editorial cartoonist YARDLEY JONES May 2, 1930
comic book and comic strip cartoonist FRANK THORNE June 16, 1930
Lost since last year’s list:
Bil Canfield, Murray Olderman, Dana Fradon, Allen Bellman, Frank Bolle,
Gene Deitch, Phil Hirsch, Alberto Uderzo, Hy Fleishman, Mort Drucker.
Missing from last year’s list is Pete Wyma – found evidence that Pete died in 1993.
Corrections and additions are welcomed and encouraged.