Jules Feiffer Biography and List of Works

American cartoonist, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Feiffer's simple drawings penetrate into modern life, politics and the strange habits of people, and attracted attention in newspapers and albums all over the world. His sparse style of drawing has also given rise to numerous imitators.

Jules Feiffer was born in Bronx, New York City. He studied at James Monroe High School and entered the Art Students' League. From 1947 to 1951 he studied at the Pratt Institute while working as an assistant on Will Eisner's classical comic The Spirit. Feiffer contributed his scripts with Klaus Nordling from the issue 40 and from 73 Feiffer was the main writer.

In 1949 Feiffer created his first own comic feature, Clifford. During his army time Feiffer made animated cartoons for the Signal Corps. After return to civilian life he worked in several jobs before Village Voice began in 1956 print his political cartoons with their uniquely neurotic characters. The weekly comic strip was simply called Feiffer.

A number of protagonists have appeared in the strip, but among the best known are Bernard Mergendeiler, a victim-hero and psychological wreck devoured by tics and complexes, whom Feiffer depicted with the undertones of self-hatred and self-pity. Other characters are also more or less portrayed with black humour - the spineless men and neurotic and poisonous women. In 1958 several of the strips were published in book form under the title SICK, SICK, SICK. Since then the strips have been reprinted in both hardbound and paperback forms. Feiffer's comic strip antiheroes also appeared in a play, The Explainers, staged at Chicago's Playwrights Cabaret in 1961.

Among Feiffers other productions are a novel, illustrations to children's books, plays, a musical comedy LITTLE MURDERS (1968, also made into film), and film scripts CARNAL KNOWLEDGE (1971), which was banned in Georgia and subsequently at issue in the U.S. Supreme Court (1974). In the film Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel are college seniors. The story traces their sexual adventures from the repressive '50s through the free-love '60s. Nicholson played a womaniser who uses sexual conquest as a substitute for love. "The first time I do it," says Nicholson, "I want her beautiful. I don't want to waste it on some beast." In the end Nicholson is a nearly impotent chauvinist and Garfunkel a middle-aged hippie.

Feiffer didn't want Nicholson for the role as a Jew from the Bronx as the part was originally written. Mike Nichols, the director, fought Feiffer on the casting and finally convinced him to accept the actor. Ann-Margaret won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Bobbie. POPEYE (1980) was based on characters created by E.C. Segar - among them a one-eyed, craggy-faced seadog named Popeye, J. Willington Wimpy, who exhibited a love of hamburgers, Swee'pea, Popeye's "adopted infink", and Olive, his "sweet patootie". Feiffer's animated cartoon Munro won an Academy Award in 1961.

As political cartoonist Feiffer attacked unyieldingly especially President Johnson's Vietnam politics and Richard Nixon, who was his most constant target. After Nixon's resignation subsequent satire of the Presidents became half-hearted in the Village Voice. In 1986 Feiffer received Pulizer Prize in editorial cartooning.

Freedom of speech: One strip showed President Johnson looking from his Oval Office peace demonstrators, who are dragged away by the White House police. "Freedom of speech is one of out most precious liberties," says the president. "Yes, Mr. President," answers Dean Rusk. - For further reading: 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics, ed. by Maurice Horn (1996)

Sick, sick, sick, (1958)