Bil Keane (1922-2011)

An American cartoonist best known for his work on the long-running newspaper comic The Family Circus, which began its run in 1960 and continues in syndication.

Bil Keane was born William Aloysius Keane in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He taught himself to draw while attending Northeast Catholic High School by mimicking the style of the cartoons published in The New Yorker. His first cartoon was published on May 21, 1936 on the amateur page of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Keane served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945, drawing for Yank magazine and creating the "At Ease with the Japanese" feature for the Pacific edition of Stars and Stripes. While stationed in Australia he met Thelma "Thel" Carne. Bil and Thel were married in Brisbane in 1948 and settled in Roslyn, Pennsylvania. Thel, the inspiration for the "Mommy" character in his long-running strip, died on May 23, 2008 from complications due to Alzheimer's Disease. (They had five children, Gayle, Neal, Glen, Christopher and Jeff.)

He worked for the Philadelphia Bulletin as a staff artist from 1946 to 1959, where he launched his first regular comic strip Silly Philly. His first syndicated strip, Channel Chuckles, premiered in 1954 and ran until 1977.

In 1959, the Keane family moved to Paradise Valley, Arizona. His daily newspaper panel The Family Circus premiered on February 29, 1960.

Keane was the president of the National Cartoonists Society from 1981-1983 and was the emcee of the NCS annual awards banquet for 16 years.

From 1981 to 1983, Bil also published the gag strip Eggheads in collaboration with his son Jeff, who acted as Bil's assistant and was expected to take over daily production of the strip when Bil retired.

Keane is a four-time recipient of the National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Syndicated Panel, winning in 1967, 1971, 1973 and 1974. Then in 1982, Keane was named the Society's Cartoonist of the Year and received its top honor, the Reuben Award. He also received the Elzie Segar Award in 1982 for his unique contribution to the cartooning profession. Keane was honored with the Silver T-Square Award from the National Cartoonist Society in 2002 for "outstanding dedication" to the NCS and the cartooning profession.

In 1998, he became the tenth recipient of the Arizona Heritage Award, joining - among others - Barry Goldwater, Sandra Day O'Connor, Mo Udall and Erma Bombeck.
• Keane had a close friendship with humorist, newspaper columnist, and fellow Catholic Erma Bombeck until her death in 1996. Keane provided illustrations for Bombeck's book Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own! (1972). Keane considered himself instrumental in convincing Bombeck to move to Arizona.
• Stephan Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine, acknowledged he was good friends with Keane and Keane's son, Jeff. Pastis has parodied The Family Circus in his own strip and Keane wrote a satirical attack as a foreword for Pastis' book Macho Macho Animals.
• The Keanes switched with Scott Adams of Dilbert in the infamous 1997 comic strip switcheroo.
• Keane has also counted fellow cartoonists Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts) and Jeff MacNelly (Shoe) as close friends.

In 1992, when Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson began requiring newspapers to run his Sunday comic feature in half-page size, Keane opposed the idea. Keane said, "I can see why he wants to do it for himself, but it is a disservice to other cartoonists. It diminishes the space other cartoonists get or forces newspapers to drop strips." Keane also voiced his displeasure when Watterson announced his retirement three years later, saying that the decision was "not fair to the readers or to the editors who have paid good money and provided space in their newspapers."

Source:
Wikipedia, Bil Keane

Added note:
Bil Keane passed away of congestive heart failure on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at his home in Paradise Valley near Phoenix, Arizona.