Harold Gray facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Harold Gray |
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| Born | Harold Lincoln Gray January 20, 1894 Kankakee, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | May 9, 1968 (aged 74) La Jolla, California, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
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Notable works
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Little Orphan Annie |
Harold Lincoln Gray (born January 20, 1894 – died May 9, 1968) was an American cartoonist. He is most famous for creating the popular newspaper comic strip Little Orphan Annie.
Early Life of Harold Gray
Harold Gray was born in Kankakee, Illinois, on January 20, 1894. His parents were Estella Mary and Ira Lincoln Gray, a farmer. Sadly, both his parents passed away before he finished high school in 1912. His family had moved to West Lafayette, Indiana by then.
In 1913, Harold got his first job at a newspaper in Lafayette. He came from a family that had lived in America since the 1600s. He grew up on farms in Illinois and Indiana. To pay for college at Purdue University, he worked in construction. He earned a degree in engineering by 1917.
After college, Gray wanted to become a cartoonist. He asked famous cartoonist John T. McCutcheon for advice. Even though he couldn't get a cartooning job right away, McCutcheon helped him get work as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Soon after, Gray joined the military for World War I, where he taught soldiers for six months. After leaving the military, he went back to the Chicago Tribune until 1919. Then, he started working as a freelance artist, creating commercial art. In 1923, while living in Lombard, Illinois, he became a Freemason, which is a member of a fraternal organization.
Creating Comic Strips
From 1921 to 1924, Harold Gray worked on another comic strip called The Gumps by Sidney Smith, doing the lettering for it. In 1924, Gray came up with his own idea for a comic strip called Little Orphan Otto. However, the editor of the Chicago Tribune, Joseph Medill Patterson, changed the title to Little Orphan Annie. This famous comic strip first appeared on August 5, 1924.
Harold Gray's first wife, Doris C. Platt, passed away in late 1925. He married Winifred Frost in 1929. The couple moved to Greens Farms, Connecticut, and often spent their winters in La Jolla, California.
By the 1930s, Little Orphan Annie had become very popular. It changed from a simple story to a detailed and exciting adventure. The comic strip often shared Gray's strong personal beliefs, which were quite traditional. He believed in hard work and self-reliance. Gray was not a fan of the government programs known as the New Deal (created by President Franklin Roosevelt). He also often spoke against unions because he felt they sometimes got in the way of hard-working Americans.
A writer named Jeet Heer, who studied Gray's work, explained that Gray was very good at creating memorable characters. Just like the famous writer Charles Dickens, Gray had a special talent for making characters like Annie and "Daddy" Warbucks feel real and strong. Once you read their stories, it's hard to forget them. This skill is a big reason why Little Orphan Annie remains a well-known comic strip even today.
Gray sometimes helped with another comic strip called Little Joe (1933–1972), which was created by his assistant and cousin, Ed Leffingwell. Another comic strip called Maw Green, which was a spin-off from Annie, was often published alongside Little Orphan Annie. It also shared similar traditional ideas as Annie.
Thanks to films, radio shows, and merchandise based on Little Orphan Annie, Harold Gray became a very wealthy man. He passed away from cancer at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California on May 9, 1968. He was 74 years old.
Images for kids
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Harold Gray, the creator of Little Orphan Annie.
