Art Sansom, who has English-German origins, was born Arthur B. Sansom II in East Cleveland. He attended Shaw High School and was graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University where he majored in art. After his graduation, Sansom worked as an engineer/draftsman for General Electric. From 1952 to 1964 he made the comic strip 'Chris Welkin, Planeteer' with Russ Winterbotham. He also drew the 'Vic Flint' Sunday strip from 1962 to 1964.
'Chris Welkin' (French-language version in the Canadian newspaper Le Petit Journal, Quebec, 23 November 1958)
He started his 'The Born Loser' comic strip for the Newspaper Enterprise Association in May 1965. The strip is about the everyday life of Brutus P. Thornapple, and is distributed by Newspaper Enterprise Association to about 1400 newspapers. From the mid-1980's on, Art Sansom was assisted by his son Chip. Chip and Art Sansom have also co-created the comic strip 'Dusty Chaps' in the early 1980s. 'The Born Loser' received the Reuben Award, the highest honor given by the National Cartoonists Society, in 1987 and again in 1991, six weeks before Sansom died. The strip has since been continued by Chip Sansom.
