Melvyn Keefer[1] (July 2, 1926 – February 11, 2022) was an American comics artist and illustrator. Best known for the comic strip Mac Divot, he was a lifetime Inkpot Award inductee.
Mel Keefer | |
---|---|
Born | Melvyn Keefer July 2, 1926 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | February 11, 2022 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 95)
Occupation | Comic artist |
Spouses | Rosanne
(m. 1951; died 1982)
|
Children | 3 |
Born in Los Angeles, California, Keefer trained as an illustrator at the Santa Monica School of Art run by Jefferson Machamer and the ArtCenter College of Design.[2][3] He made his debut as a comics artist drawing Perry Mason for King Features Syndicate.[2] He is best known for the long-running golf-themed series Mac Divot, which he created together with Jordan Lanski for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate and which ran for twenty years starting from 1955.[2] Other comic strips Keefer has worked in include Thorne McBride (1960–1963), Rick O'Shay (which he drew between 1978 and 1981) and the comic versions of Dragnet and Gene Autry.[3][4]
Besides his activity as a cartoonist, Keefer also worked as an illustrator for books, magazines and other publications.[2] He authored the artwork of the Richard Quine's film How to Murder Your Wife.[2] In 2007, Keefer was awarded a lifetime Inkpot Award for his career.[3]
Keefer died on February 11, 2022, at the age of 95.[3]