comic art by Garry Trudeau
'Doonesbury' (2002).

Garry Trudeau is one of the main political and humanitarian artists of the last three decades. He was born Garretson Beekman Trudeau in New York City in 1948, and raised in Saranac Lake. Among his graphic influences are Jules Feiffer and William Hogarth. Later in life Trudeau also expressed admiration for Keith Knight. He attended Yale University, and was a cartoonist and writer for The Yale Record. He also organized several cultural events during this time with the Record, and he was a member of Yale's secret Scroll and Key society. He also created a comic strip called 'Bull Tales', that moved to the Yale Daily News in 1969. Universal Press Syndicate bought the strip and started selling it nationwide to over 400 newspapers under the title 'Doonesbury'. The first episode of the daily comic was published on 26 October 1970, while the first Sunday comic appeared on 21 March 1971.

Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau
'Doonesbury' (1975).

Trudeau earned his master of fine arts degree in graphic design from the Yale School of Art in 1973. He has worked as a writer and essayist for such publications as Harper's, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, The New Yorker, New York, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Time Magazine. In 1974, Trudeau published a book together with Von Hoffman, 'The Fireside Watergate', which became a bestseller.

Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau
'Doonesbury' (1984).

In his long career, Trudeau has made several political statements within his comics, and has been groundbreaking in dealing with topics like homosexuality in comic strips. He also has been a strong advocate of cartoonists' rights. According to his syndicate's site, 'Doonesbury' "has chronicled American history and culture in a parallel universe". By 2015, 'Doonesbury' is still syndicated to over 1000 daily and Sunday newspapers worldwide. In 1975, Trudeau was the first comic strip artist to win the Pulitzer Prize, followed by the Reuben Award in 1996.

Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau
'Doonesbury' (2000).

The 'Doonesbury' strip has been made into an animated short film in 1977 and a Broadway musical in 1984. Trudeau has worked as a scriptwriter on several satirical theater and television productions, including 'Rap Master Ronnie' with Elizabeth Swados (1984-1988) and 'Tanner '88' (1988) and 'Tanner on Tanner' (2004) with Robert Altman. He is also the creator, writer and co-producer of the political sit-com 'Alpha House' for Amazon Studios, starring John Goodman.

Garry Trudeau was an influence on Jorge Arnanz, Brett Merhar, Herman Roozen and Bob Scott

Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau
'Doonesbury' (1992).

www.doonesbury.com

Series and books by Garry Trudeau you can order today:

X

If you want to help us continue and improve our ever- expanding database, we would appreciate your donation through Paypal.