Tom Wilson (cartoonist)

Tom Wilson
Born(1931-08-01)August 1, 1931
Grant Town, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedSeptember 16, 2011(2011-09-16) (aged 80)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Area(s)Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
Notable works
Ziggy
AwardsEmmy (producer, Outstanding Animated Program) for Ziggy's Gift (1982);[1]
Purchase award, Butler Museum National Painting Competition[1]
Spouse(s)Carol Sobble
Childrentwo sons, two daughters

Thomas Albert Wilson (August 1, 1931 – September 16, 2011),[2][3][4] was an American cartoonist. Wilson was the creator of the comic strip Ziggy, which he drew from 1971 to 1987. The strip was then continued by his son, Tom Wilson Jr.[5]

After growing up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Wilson served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955.[1][6] He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1955.[1] He was a Cooper Union art instructor from 1961 to 1962.[1][6]

Wilson's career began in 1950, doing advertisement layouts for Uniontown Newspapers, Inc.[1][6] In 1955, he joined American Greetings (AG) as a designer, becoming Creative Director in 1957 and vice-president of creative development in 1978.[1] While at AG, he developed the Soft Touch greeting card line.[1] He also served as president of Those Characters From Cleveland, AG's character licensing subsidiary.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Tom Wilson." The Complete Marquis Who's Who. Marquis Who's Who, 2010. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2010.
  2. ^ "Tom Wilson." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2010.
  3. ^ jeff560 (2007-02-09). "Famous West Virginians". AOL. Archived from the original on 2007-03-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Ziggy creator Tom Wilson Sr. passes at age 80 The Daily Cartoonist
  5. ^ Clark, Paul (2009-03-02). "'Ziggy' cartoonist tells of depression". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-02. Much of the book derives from journals [Tom Wilson Jr.] kept along the way, a practice he found therapeutic. Some were recorded on audiotape during his regular travels up Interstate 71 between his home in Loveland and his business in Cleveland, a cartoon-character licensing and branding company called Character Matters.
  6. ^ a b c Reynolds, Moira Davison (2003). Comic Strip Artists in American Newspapers, 1945-1980. McFarland. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-7864-1551-9.