Kurtzman, Harvey

▪ 1994

      U.S. cartoonist and editor (b. Oct. 3, 1924, New York, N.Y.—d. Feb. 21, 1993, Mount Vernon, N.Y.), cleverly lampooned the sacred institutions of American life as the comic genius who conceived of Mad magazine and its gap-toothed, freckle-faced mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. Kurtzman, who published his first cartoon at the age of 14, attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City. After contributing humour fillers for magazines, he drew the strip "Hey Look!" in a distinctively loose, thick-outlined style for Timely Comics, Inc. For EC (Entertainment Comics) publisher William Gaines, Kurtzman created two well-researched antiwar comic books, Two Fisted Tales and Front Line Combat. While recuperating from an illness, Kurtzman began illustrating a strip cartoon called "Mad," which featured his unique brand of humour and a broad range of parodies, including ones of other cartoon characters, politics, and television. The strip was a sensation, and Kurtzman was persuaded by Gaines to convert his brainchild into a magazine. Although Kurtzman edited only the first four issues of Mad magazine, which premiered in 1952, his distinctive imprint remained visible even after his departure. He then went to work for Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy magazine, and produced the short-lived Trump, Humbug, and Help comic books before striking gold with "Little Annie Fanny," which premiered in Playboy in 1962. Kurtzman's satirical humour laid the foundation for such contemporary television programs as "Saturday Night Live" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus," and he helped launch other cartoonists by publishing their works in a comic book called Nuts. Other works include My Life as a Cartoonist, Strange Adventures, and From Aargh! to Zap!

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