Dick Cavalli

{{Short description|American cartoonist (1923–1997)}} {{Infobox comics creator

| image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Richard A. Cavalli | birth_place = New York City, US | death_place = New Canaan, Connecticut, US | pencil = y | ink = y | alias = | notable works = ''Morty Meekle'', ''Winthrop'' | awards = | subcat = | birth_date={{Birth date|1923|9|23}} | death_date={{Death date and age|1997|10|16|1923|9|23}} }} '''Richard A. Cavalli''' (September 28, 1923 – October 16, 1997)<ref name=ssdi>[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JKPR-M2H Richard A. Cavalli] at the U.S. Social Security Death Index via FamilySearch.og. Retrieved on October 15, 2015. [https://web.archive.org/web/20151208065831/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JKPR-M2H Archived] from the original on December 8, 2015.</ref> was an American commercial illustrator and cartoonist best known for the comic strips ''Morty Meekle'' and its successor, ''Winthrop'', which consecutively were syndicated to newspapers from 1956 to 1994.

==Biography== Cavalli was born and educated in New York City.<ref name="ncs-autobio">{{cite web |url=http://www.reuben.org/ncs/members/memorium/cavalli.jpg |title=Dick Cavalli |publisher=National Cartoonists Society |accessdate=October 13, 2015 |archivedate=March 4, 2016 |first=Dick |last=Cavalli |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060748/http://www.reuben.org/ncs/members/memorium/cavalli.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> He did military service in World War II, seeing combat with the Air Force Ground Groups and the infantry in France, Luxembourg and Germany.<ref name=lam>[https://www.lambiek.net/artists/c/cavalli_dick.htm Dick Cavalli] at the Lambiek Comiclopedia. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150922134329/https://www.lambiek.net/artists/c/cavalli_dick.htm Archived] from the original on October 13, 2015.</ref> On his return to the U.S., he did pen and ink drawing of fossilized specimens for the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan,<ref name=lam /> and studied cartooning at the Cartoonists & Illustrators School, where he was in the first graduating class.<ref name=sva>{{cite web |url=http://www.svaarchives.org/timeline.html |title=Archives |publisher=School of Visual Arts |accessdate=October 14, 2015 |archivedate=September 18, 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918080634/http://www.svaarchives.org/timeline.html |url-status=live }}</ref> thumb|500px|''Winthrop'' strip of October 2, 1972, depicting the title character and his father. The strip often derived humor from the juxtaposition of adult notions and concerns emanating from the mouths of children. His gag cartoons in magazines including ''The Saturday Evening Post'' and ''Collier's'', ''Ms.'', ''Working Woman'', and ''The Atlantic Monthly.'' had achieved such popularity by 1956 that ''Writer's Digest'' observed he had "risen to the top faster than any other cartoonist in the business."<ref name=horn>Wepman, Dennis, in {{cite book | editor-last=Horn|editor-first=Maurice|editor-link=Maurice Horn|title= 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics|publisher=Gramercy Books|location= New York City; Avenel, New Jersey|year= 1996|isbn=978-0-517-12447-5|pages= 395–396, ''Winthrop'' (entry)}}</ref> That year he became one of the founding 10 cartoonists, alongside Al Capp, Milton Caniff, and others, to be affiliated with the Famous Artists Cartoon Course correspondence course, a spinoff of the Famous Artists School.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=a-EDAAAAMBAJ&q=Famous+Artists+Cartoon+Course+cavalli&pg=PA23 | title= Send in your best cartoon for Free  evaluation! | publisher= Famous Artists Cartoon Course advertisement, Popular Mechanics | date= May 1956|page =23}}</ref>

On January 9, 1956, Cavalli launched Newspaper Enterprise Association's syndicated comic strip '' Morty Meekle'', featuring the courtship of the title character and his girlfriend, Jill Wortle.<ref name=toonopedia>[http://toonopedia.com/meekle.htm ''Morty Meekle'' (''Winthrop'')] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. [https://archive.today/20150310011035/http://toonopedia.com/meekle.htm Archived] from the original on March 10, 2015.</ref> The strip gradually began emphasizing what comics historian Maurice Horn called its "background chorus of snide youngsters with a perceptive take on the human condition."<ref name=horn /> On February 27, 1966, Cavalli removed the adult characters and renamed the strip ''Winthrop'', after Jill's kid brother, the most prominent of the young social critics.<ref name=horn /><ref name=toonopedia /> The strip ended on May 14, 1994.<ref name=toonopedia />

Additionally, from 1982 to 1983, he was the successor cartoonist on the comic strip ''Norbert'', taking over from creator George Fett.<ref name= lam/>

==Personal life== Cavalli and his wife, Helen, had two daughters, Tory and Cassie.<ref name="ncs-autobio" /> He died October 16, 1997<ref name=ssdi /> of a heart attack, having suffered at least two previously.<ref name=greewichtime>{{cite news|url=http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Dumas-A-friend-who-could-write-and-letter-with-338522.php |title=A friend who could write, and letter, with style |first=Jerry |last=Dumas |authorlink=Jerry Dumas |work=Greenwich Time |location=Connecticut |date=January 27, 2010 |accessdate=October 15, 2015 |archivedate=October 15, 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015220003/http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Dumas-A-friend-who-could-write-and-letter-with-338522.php |url-status=bot: unknown }} Additional .</ref> He was living in New Canaan, Connecticut, at the time of his death.<ref name=ssdi />

==Bibliography== *''Winthrop: A Strip Coloring Book'' (Saalfield Publishing Company, Book # 2915 : Akron, Ohio, 1968).<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CCshAQAAIAAJ&q=%22winthrop+coloring+book%22+%22cavalli%2C+dick%22+authorized&pg=PA2500 | page= 1805| title= Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1968: July-December| year= 1971| publisher= US Copyright Office, Library of Congress}}</ref> Reprints daily strips originally published 1966–1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/crri/cav.htm |title=Cavalli, Dick, 1923- > Winthrop : a strip coloring book |publisher=Michigan State University Libraries Special Collections Division: Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection: "Cavagnoli" to "Cavco" |accessdate=October 13, 2015 |archivedate=March 5, 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305145842/http://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/crri/cav.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite news| title= Dick Cavalli and ''Winthrop''| work=Cartoonews | issue=10|date= 1976|pages=23–24}}

== External links == * [https://osucartoons.pastperfectonline.com/vocabulary?keyword=Cavalli%2C+Richard+%28Dick%29%2C+1923-1997&letter=C&searchtype=creator&showsearch=true Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database] {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavalli, Dick}} Category:1923 births Category:1997 deaths Category:American comic strip cartoonists Category:Artists from New York City Category:Artists from New Canaan, Connecticut Category:20th-century American people