Thelma Keane
| Thelma Keane | |
|---|---|
Thelma Keane at her office desk in 1967.
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| Born |
Thelma Carne March 15, 1926 Gympie, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | May 23, 2008 (aged 82) Paradise Valley, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupation | Businessperson and business manager |
Thelma "Thel" Keane (née Carne; March 15, 1926 – May 23, 2008) was the Australian-born American wife of The Family Circus newspaper cartoonist, Bil Keane. Keane served as her husband's inspiration and model for the "Mommy" character in his long running comic strip and was instrumental in restoring the copyrights for The Family Circus to her husband.
Keane was born Thelma Carne in Gympie, Queensland, Australia, in 1926. Her father was a banana farmer. For much of her early childhood, Carne lived in a four-room canvas tent within the borders of the Amamoor Forest Reserve while her father worked on a local reforestation project. She lived with relatives in Gympie while in high school and returned home to her family on the weekends.
Thelma Carne met her future husband, Bil Keane, an American, while working in the United States war bonds office in Brisbane, Australia, during World War II. Bil Keane was a United States Army promotional artist who drew posters and flyers for the war effort. Thelma had been hired as an accounting secretary for the office. Their desks and workstations were next to one another. Cartoonist Bil Keane later spoke of meeting Thelma in the office saying, "Thel was a very pretty 18-year-old with a gorgeous figure, long brown hair and I just happened to have a desk drawing next to her and I got the nerve to ask her out. We started laughing then and never stopped."
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