Frank Hem Beck was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1894. He studied art at the Chicago Art Institute and was employed as a cartoonist by the New York Tribune. During the first World War, Beck served on the Western front in Europe as an ambulance driver, and after his return he created popular comics such as 'Hem and Amy', 'Down the Road', 'All in a Lifetime' and 'Gas Buggies'. 'Hem and Amy' was later renamed to 'Barbara'. At one point, he drew 13 cartoons a week: 6 strips, 6 panels and 1 Sunday page in color. At the end of the 1920s, Frank Beck bought an English bloodhound and based a new strip on its antics - 'Bo' became the most popular strip he ever did, and Beck retired to San Diego where he died in 1962.
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