- Brad Anderson in his studio.
Famous “Marmaduke” cartoonist and Chautauqua County native Brad Anderson died Sunday, Aug. 30, at the age of 91.
“Marmaduke” was a popular comic strip appearing in 500 newspapers across 10 countries. The comical cartoon about a great Dane made its first appearance on Anderson’s drawing board in 1954, and he continued working on the comic strip in his studio in Montgomery, Texas, with the help of his son beginning in 2004.
Anderson was born in Jamestown in 1924. He grew up on Third Street in Portland. It was in high school that the young aviation buff began submitting cartoons for publication in specialty magazines like Flying and Flying Aces. He then served with the United States Navy until 1946.
Initially aspiring to be an industrial designer, Anderson attended Syracuse University on the G.I. Bill. Throughout his undergraduate years, he frequently published cartoons in the student magazine The Syracusan, as well as in popular commercial publications like Collier’s Weekly and the Saturday Evening Post.
In 1951 he graduated with a B.F.A. in Fine Arts with a major in advertising. He went to work for Ball & Grier, an advertising agency in Utica, New York; however, in 1953, Anderson decided to focus on freelance magazine cartooning. From 1954 to 1966, Anderson drew the comic strip Grandpa’s Boy.
Anderson is best known for creating the comic strip Marmaduke. He said he was drawing various types of dogs in his other cartoons and was also trying to develop a dog character specifically for newspaper syndication. In 1954 Marmaduke appeared in his first newspaper, where he can be found ever since. At its peak, the strip appeared in more than 600 newspapers in 20 countries worldwide.
In 1978 Anderson received a National Cartoonists Society Award for Marmaduke in 1978. He’s also made and appearance on two television shows featured on Animal Planet.
One of his favorite inclusions in his comics was the old Cave’s Meat Market in Brocton.
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