Comic Strip Artist
1918-2005
Born in Nutley on February 13, 1918, Bud Blake achieved world-wide recognition as the award-winning creator of the “Tiger” comic strip which was syndicated to about 500 newspapers and still appears in more than 100 newspapers in 11 different countries.
Blake resided at 30 Chestnut Street and attended school in town until he left high school to work the carnivals, state fairs and seaside boardwalks as a demonstrator for a penknife company doing quick three-dimensional sketches of spectators in balsa wood. He began his career with the Kudner Agency, an advertising agency in New York City, as a paste-up boy at age 18 and became executive art director in 1937. Blake quit this job in 1956 to spend less time commuting and more time at the drawing board where he was happiest. In 1965, he created “Tiger.”
As reported by King Features, a unit of The Hearst Corporation and publisher of “Tiger,” Blake envisioned a strip about a little boy named Tiger and his scrappy group of friends. More of a catalyst than a leader, Tiger pals around with his little brother Punkinhead, his best friend Hugo and his faithful, spotted dog Stripe, Suzy and Bonnie, Tiger’s feminine rivals, and Julian, the bespectacled “brain, round out Blake’s rich cast of endearing characters.(“News from King Features”2005)
Blake stated, “The characters are composites of various youngsters in my neighborhood and from my own childhood.” Hugo was based on a boy who used to beat him up. ” I don�t remember his real name, but I know it wasn’t Hugo. I’ll never forget that he was bigger and tougher than the rest of us,” Blake related. Stripe was based on Blake’s own dog Jenny. (News 2005)
Blake studied art at several schools including the National Academy of Design in 1934. He served in the U.S. Army, Infantry from 1943 through 1946 as a technical sergeant. He was a member of the National Cartoonists Society and the National Comics Council.
He maintained as reputation as one of the country’s most talented cartoonists. Jay Kennedy, editor in chief at King Features Syndicate reported, “He was highly respected by his peers for the quality and charm of his artwork and his inspiring view of a child’s world.” The National Cartoonists Society selected “Tiger” as the year’s best humor strip in 1970, 1978, and 2000. The strip has been nominated several times for the Society’s top honor, the Reuben Award.
Blake moved to Maine, where he had spent many summers, after the death of his wife Doris in 1988. He continued drawing “Tiger” until he was 85. (“New York Times” December 30, 2005)