Jack Mendelsohn facts for kids

Panels from Jack Mendelsohn's 1959–61 comic strip Jackys Diary.

Jack Mendelsohn (born November 8, 1926 – died January 25, 2017) was an American writer and artist. He worked on many different projects, including animated shows, comic strips, and comic books. He was known for writing for popular TV shows like Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Three's Company, and The Carol Burnett Show. He also helped write the movie Yellow Submarine and worked on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. He won awards for his amazing work in animation and comics.

Early Life and Career

Jack's dad was an agent for a famous cartoonist named Winsor McCay. Growing up in Brooklyn, Jack loved reading the comic strip Silly Milly. This comic strip, by Stan MacGovern, really influenced Jack's own cartoon style.

Jack left high school to join the Navy. After World War II, he started drawing funny cartoons. These "gag cartoons" were published in popular magazines like The Saturday Evening Post.

Jack Mendelsohn passed away on January 25, 2017, from lung cancer.

Creating Jacky's Diary

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Jack lived in Mexico City. There, he created his own unique comic strip called Jackys Diary. It started on January 11, 1959, and ran until 1961.

A panel from Jacky's Diary.

Many people who love comics think Jackys Diary was one of the most clever and funny comic strips from King Features Syndicate. It was a Sunday-only strip, meaning it only appeared in newspapers on Sundays.

When Dell Comics reprinted the strip, they added an apostrophe to the title, calling it Jacky's Diary. Later, in 2010, King Features' DailyINK started featuring Jackys Diary online. However, it was removed in 2012 because they no longer had the rights to publish it.

In 2014, all the Jackys Diary strips were collected and released as a hardcover book. Jack also secretly wrote for other comic strips. He also wrote for comic books, especially for EC Comics' Panic. In 2014, Jack Mendelsohn received the Bill Finger Award for his contributions to comics.

Writing for TV and Movies

Jack Mendelsohn was a very busy writer for many popular television shows and movies. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his comedy writing. He helped create stories and scripts for a wide variety of shows.

Here are some of the well-known TV shows and movies he wrote for:

Television Shows

• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968-1969)
• The Carol Burnett Show (1970-1971)
• The Addams Family (1973)
• Three's Company (1978-1979)
• Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1983)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990-1993)
• Taz-Mania (1993)
• Clifford the Big Red Dog (2002)

Movies

• Yellow Submarine (1968)
• The Adventures of Robin Hoodnik (1972)
• Gallavants (1984)

Awards and Recognition

Jack Mendelsohn received several important awards for his long career. In 2004, the Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognized all his amazing work in animation writing. He also received the Bill Finger Award in 2014 for his contributions to the world of comic books.