Cartoonist, writer, satirist and ’60s counterculture icon Jules Feiffer died Friday, January 17 due to congestive heart failure. The award-winning artist passed away at his home in Richfield Springs, New York. News of his death was shared by his wife, writer JZ Holden, with The Washington Post.
Trained under Will Eisner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist made his mark in animation with the Oscar-winning satirical short Munro (1960) and films adapted from his children’s books I Lost My Bear (2005) and Bark, George (2003), all directed by Gene Deitch. He also wrote Bill Plympton’s Boomtown (1985), which wryly explored the impact of increased U.S. military spending in the wake of the Cold War.
Born January 26, 1929 in the Bronx, Feiffer took to drawing at an early age and described cartoons as his first fascination as a child. In a 1971 interview, he told Playboy, “What I loved best about these comics was that they created a very personal world in which almost anything could take place. And readers would accept it even if it had nothing to do with any other kind of world. It was the fantasy world I loved.”
Feiffer graduated from high school early and sought out work with one of his idols, Will Eisner, apprenticing in his studio from 1946. The young artist also sought out art classes through the Art Students League of New York and studied at the Pratt Institute. From 1949-51, he drew the Sunday cartoon feature Clifford. Feiffer also served in the U.S. Army for two years, working on animation for the Signal Corps.
In 1956, Feiffer’s work was accepted by The Village Voice and launched his self-titled cartoon series. Feiffer went into syndication in 1959, and appeared in the Voice until 1997. He published his first collection, Sick, Sick, Sick in 1958, followed by Passionella and Other Stories in 1959. The second book introduced the character Munro, a four-year-old accidentally drafted into the army, who starred in his own Oscar-winning short in 1960. Feiffer continued to publish his cartoon collection through the following decades.
He ventured into children’s books as an illustrator, working on numerous titles including Norton Juster’s popular The Phantom Tollbooth (1961). Feiffer went on to write and illustrated his own kid lit, including I Lost My Bear (1998), Bark, George (1999), The House Across the Street (2002) and A Room with a Zoo (2005). Feiffer also helped illustrate the children’s books penned by his daughter Kate, including Henry the Dog with No Tail (2007) and No Go Sleep! (2021). Feiffer also published several graphic novels, including the noirish Kill My Mother (2014), which launched a trilogy.
Feiffer was also a commended playwright and screenwriter. On the stage, he contributed to the 1969 Broadway revue Oh! Calcutta! and earned a Tony nomination for Knock, Knock (1976). For the big screen he delivered Mike Nichols’ Carnal Knowledge (1971) and Robert Altman’s Popeye (1980), starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall and inspired by the beloved E.C. Segar comics character.
Over the course of his storied and varied career, Feiffer received a number of prizes and special honors, including the animated short Oscar for Munro (1961), the Pulitzer Prize for political cartoons (1968), election into the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1995), induction into the Comic Book Hall of Fame (2004), the National Cartoonists Society’s Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award (2004) and the Writers Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award (2010).
Feiffer published his memoir, Backing into Forward, in 2010. Just last year, he released the whimsical graphic novel Amazing Grapes. He had been working on a visual memoir at the time of his death.
Feiffer is survives by his wife, JZ Holden, and his three children, including actress/playwright Halley Feiffer and author Kate Feiffer.
[Sources: Hollywood Reporter, Encyclopedia Britannica]
