Mort Walker was born in 1923 in El Dorado, Kansas. Walker published his first comic when he was 11. He sold his first cartoon at 12, and at 14 he was selling gag cartoons regularly to magazines. At 15, he was comic-strip artist for a weekly metropolitan newspaper. At 18, he became chief editorial designer at Hall Bros., ushering in a light, playful style for the company's Hallmark Cards line.
   The following year, 1943, Walker was drafted into the Army. He served in Italy as an intelligence and investigating officer and was also in charge of a German POW camp. He was discharged as a first lieutenant four years later, and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1948. While at M.U., he was editor of the school magazine.
   He then went to New York City to pursue his cartooning career. In order to survive, he worked as editor of three magazines for Dell Publishing Company. His first 200 cartoons were rejected, but he persisted, and editors started to recognize his talent and in two years he was the top-selling magazine cartoonist.
   His first big break came in 1950, when King Features picked up "Beetle Bailey" for syndication. Since then, he has also created several other well-known comics, including "Hi and Lois" with Dik Browne.
   Walker also recognized the historic contributions of his predecessors and contemporaries and in 1974, he founded the Museum of Cartoon Art, the first museum dedicated to the preservation and elevation of the art of comics.
   Walker has written several books on the art and history of comics, as well as children's books. He has published numerous collections of his comics work, including 92 "Beetle Bailey" and 35 "Hi and Lois" paperbacks.
  Walker still oversees the 9-to-5 work of the staff at his Connecticut laugh factory studio, which was unofficially dubbed "King Features East" because the work generated there once rivaled the combined output of the entire King Features Syndicate comics department. Walker and his wife, Catherine, have 10 children between them from previous marriages. Six of his children, as well as the son of his former collaborator Dik Browne, contribute to the funny business, along with several other artists and writers. The shop uses only the best gags -- there are more than 10,000 unused gags in the vault -- and in 55 years, the studio has never missed a deadline, keeping King Features happy and comics fans in stitches.

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Mort Walker's 2005 contribution is pictured below (click to enlarge/click image to close).