Lank Leonard
| Lank Leonard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Frank E. Leonard January 2, 1896 Port Chester, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 2, 1970 (aged 74) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Artist |
|
Notable works
|
Mickey Finn |
Frank E. Leonard (January 2, 1896 – August 1, 1970), better known as Lank Leonard, was an American cartoonist artist who created the long-running comic strip Mickey Finn, which he drew for more than three decades.
Born in Port Chester, New York in 1896, Leonard decided early in his childhood that he wanted to be a cartoonist while he made copies of Buster Brown, Happy Hooligan, Little Nemo and The Katzenjammer Kids, eventually creating his own characters. In high school, he was the art editor of his school newspaper.
After his high school graduation, Leonard took a job as a bookkeeper at a local factory, where he also drew cartoons for the plant's house organ. He studied at a business college from 1914 to 1915, then served in the U.S. Army during World War I.
Returning from the service, Leonard designed a new type of suction sole basketball shoe for a sporting goods firm, which eventually hired him as a salesman. He was in his early twenties, working as a traveling salesman, when he met cartoonist Clare A. Briggs on a train between Sioux City and Omaha and showed him the sketch pad he always carried. "Pretty crude, but there's no doubt you have talent," said Briggs.
Briggs referred him to Chicago Tribune editorial cartoonist Carey Orr, who suggested Leonard take the C. L. Evans correspondence course in cartooning. Leonard did so, mailing in assignments drawn in hotel rooms as he traveled about the country. Later, he took night courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and New York's Art Students League.
...
Wikipedia