Bernhard-Viktor von Bülow, better known as Vicco von Bülow or Loriot, was a well-known German cartoonist, comedian, film director and writer. Born in Brandenburg as the son of an army officer turned police officer, he joined the army in World War II. He fought at the Eastern Front as First Lieutenant of Panzergrenadierregiment 3. He eventually ended up studying at the Academy of Art in post-war Hamburg.
He then became a cartoonist, publishing his first work in Die Strasse. His 'Auf der Hund Gekommen' cartoon panels premiered in the Stern daily. In these panels, Loriot parodied the relations between humans and dogs. He began doing comics as well, however always in pantomime comic form. His 'Wahre Geschichten Erlogen von Loriot' and 'Reinhold das Nashorn' comic series ran for several years in the pages of Stern. These comics were often signed with Pirol.
In the mid-1960s Loriot got his own TV show, called Cartoon. He then had a successful career in animation, starting with his famous character 'Wum' from 1972. Loriot has also written and directed two movies, 'Ödipussi' in 1988 and 'Pappa ante Portas' in 1991, in which he also played a starring role.
In 2003 Germany organized the "Unsere Besten" contest, where people could vote for "The Greatest German". Vicco von Bülow was elected to a 54th place. The only other comic artist to make the list was Wilhelm Busch at nr. 118.
