Chester Gould facts for kids

Chester Gould (November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was a famous American cartoonist. He is best known for creating the popular Dick Tracy comic strip. He wrote and drew Dick Tracy for many years, from 1931 to 1977. His comic strip featured many unique and sometimes strange villains.

Chester Gould's Early Life

Chester Gould was born in a log cabin near Pawnee, Oklahoma. His family were early settlers in the area. His father, Gilbert Gould, was an editor for a local newspaper. Chester later said his father's work inspired him to become a cartoonist.

When Chester was just 8 years old, a lawyer bought one of his drawings. This encouraged him to keep drawing. He entered many art contests and took drawing lessons by mail. While still in high school, he was hired by Oklahoma A&M University. He drew pictures for their yearbook in 1918 and 1919.

Gould's College Years and First Comics

In 1919, Chester Gould started college at Oklahoma A&M. He drew cartoons for local newspapers like the Tulsa Democrat and The Daily Oklahoman. In 1921, he moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University. He was drawn to Chicago because of the Chicago Tribune newspaper. The Tribune was known for supporting new comic strips.

For the next ten years, Gould sent many comic strip ideas to the Tribune. However, none of them were accepted at first. To earn money, he drew ads and cartoons for other newspapers. He eventually got his first comic strips published. These included Fillum Fables, which made fun of silent films, and Radio Catts, about a family of cats who loved the radio.

Chester Gould married Edna Gauger in 1926. Their daughter was born the next year. In 1928, he created another comic strip called The Girl Friends. He kept sending new ideas to the Tribune.

How Dick Tracy Was Created

In June 1931, Chester Gould was listening to a radio show about Sherlock Holmes. He also read a newspaper story about a famous Chicago gangster, Al Capone. This gave him an idea for a new comic strip. He wanted to create a hero detective who fought crime in the city. After many tries, the Tribune finally accepted his 61st idea. This idea became Dick Tracy.

The World of Dick Tracy

Proposed comic strip drawn by Chester Gould one year before creating Dick Tracy.

Chester Gould officially started Dick Tracy on October 4, 1931. He drew the comic strip for 46 years from his home in Woodstock, Illinois.

To make his stories realistic, Gould studied police methods. He took courses in forensics and how investigations work. He was very proud of some ideas he put into the comic strip. For example, he showed Tracy using a two-way wrist radio in 1946. In 1947, he drew a closed-circuit television. Both of these inventions later became real, though in different forms.

Gould often made up the stories as he drew them. Fans loved this because it made the stories exciting. However, it sometimes led to tricky situations that were hard to solve. For instance, once Tracy was stuck in a dangerous trap. Gould drew Tracy talking to him directly, asking for help. The publisher, Joseph Medill Patterson, made Gould redraw that part. Some people also felt that Gould's crime scenes were too violent.

Changes in Dick Tracy's Stories

Later in the Dick Tracy series, some readers felt the strip was too focused on police power. They thought it didn't show enough about the rights of people accused of crimes. In the 1940s, Gould introduced a smelly character named B.O. Plenty. Readers didn't complain much. But in the 1960s, he created a dishonest lawyer named Flyface, who was always surrounded by flies. This caused many newspapers to stop printing the strip.

After this, the comic strip changed a lot. It moved away from city crime stories. Instead, it started featuring science fiction elements and trips to the moon. Many strange enemies and stories followed. When the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon, Gould stopped this space phase.

Chester Gould retired in 1977. His last Dick Tracy comic strip appeared on Christmas Day, December 25. The strip continued with his assistant, Rick Fletcher, drawing the art, and Max Allan Collins as the writer.

Chester Gould passed away on May 11, 1985, at his home in Woodstock, Illinois. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Woodstock.

Awards and Recognition

Chester Gould received many awards for his work:

• He won the Reuben Award in 1959 and 1977. This is a top award for cartoonists.
• He received the Inkpot Award in 1978.
• The Mystery Writers of America gave him a special Edgar Award in 1980.
• In 1995, Dick Tracy was one of 20 comic strips honored with special postage stamps.

Exhibitions and Museums

An art show called Dick Tracy: The Art of Chester Gould was held in 1978. It was at the Museum of Cartoon Art in Port Chester, New York.

From 1991 to 2008, the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum was open in Woodstock, Illinois. Visitors could see original comic strips, photos, and even Gould's drawing board. The museum is now online as a virtual museum.

In 2005, Gould was added to the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame. Northwestern University, where Gould studied, also honored him. They named the Chester Gould Society after him for their donors.

Books About Chester Gould

In 1983, Chester Gould's daughter, Jean Gould O'Connell, interviewed her father. He talked a lot about how he tried to get his comics published in the 1920s. He also shared stories about how Dick Tracy began. These interviews helped her write his biography, Chester Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy, published in 2007.

All of the Dick Tracy comic strips are being reprinted in a book series by IDW Publishing. The series started in 2006. The first book includes the first five sample strips Gould used to sell his idea. It also has over 450 early strips and an interview with Gould that was never published before. Many more books in this series have been released, covering the comic strip's history up to July 1974.

Images for kids

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  Proposed comic strip drawn by Chester Gould one year before creating Dick Tracy.

See also

In Spanish: Chester Gould para niños