William Overgard
William Overgard (April 30, 1926 – 1990), was an American cartoonist and writer with a diverse opus, including novels, screenplays, animation, and the comic strips Steve Roper and Mike Nomad and Rudy. For a picture, see his biography card at National Cartoonists Society.
William Thomas Overgard was born on April 30, 1926 in Santa Monica, California, son of silent-movie actor William A. Overgard, and grew up there. Inspired as a boy by Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates, at age twelve he sent him a fan letter and samples of his own art, and received encouragement. They continued corresponding during Overgard's high school years and two years in the Navy during World War II. Afterwards, he headed for New York and worked with Caniff, assisting him on his new strip Steve Canyon. (He later regarded this apprenticeship as his only true training for cartooning.) Then, on Caniff's advice, he launched his own cartooning career in the 1950s with comic books such as Jungle Jim, Ben Bowie, Daredevil, and the western Black Diamond (Lambiek). He also freelanced in ghosted strips and animation, continuing to refine his artwork, and contributed to Boy Magazine and the satirical Whack.
In 1954, Steve Roper artist Pete Hoffman was leaving to do his own strip, Jeff Cobb. As recalled by Harvey (2004), Overgard "had been trying to get a syndicated gig, and when the Roper job opened up, he was invited to compete with other candidates for the assignment. 'Fortunately,' he wrote, 'I managed to scoot by and win, and that was the beginning of my career as a strip cartoonist.' " The first strip he drew for Steve Roper was for July 12, 1954. When the writer, Allen Saunders, was considering a counterfoil pal for "straight-arrow" Roper, Overgard suggested a character he had been working on and described as "a realistic working-man kind of guy who was not beyond taking any opportunity that presented itself" (Harvey, ibid). Thus appeared on June 19, 1956, Mike Nomad, who would ultimately become the protagonist of the strip.
With a family started and the security of Steve Roper, in 1954 Overgard and his wife Gloria "left behind their bohemian Manhattan life" (Traster 2007) and moved up the Hudson to a house on a rural 17-acre (69,000 m2) site in Stony Point, NY, close to friend Caniff's home. He invested much of his earnings over the years in renovating the house (built in 1770) while also indulging a love of antique cars and motorcycles. He did his cartooning and writing at night, except when he and his wife entertained in "artsy soirees" in their home and gardens (Traster, ibid).
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