Hank Ketcham(1920-2001)
- Writer
- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
Hank Ketcham was born on March 14, 1920, in Seattle; he wanted to be a
cartoonist since age 6. In 1938, Hank left college after his freshman
year. He went to California to work as an animator, first for Walter
Lantz, creator of Woody Woodpecker. Later Hank worked for Walt Disney,
where he helped draw "Bambi" and Donald Duck shorts. During World War
II, Hank joined the Navy, and kept drawing-- but now for training
material and posters. After the war, Hank was a freelance cartoonist
and drew magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post. But his dream
of having his own comic strip still eluded him. Hank was living in
Carmel, in October 1950, when his wife Alice, worn out by their
misbehaving kid, snapped at Hank one day: "Your son is a menace!"
History was about to be made. The mischievous adventures of his
4-year-old son Dennis gave Hank fodder to create the famous comic
strip, which made its debut on March 12, 1951, in 16 newspapers, and
was an instant hit. Hank named Mr. Wilson after a teacher he'd known,
and Dennis' friend Gina was named after Gina Lollobrigida. Hank was doing the
strip daily, but eventually the work load was too heavy for one person,
and Hank built up a staff with comedy writers. His work led to the live
action "Dennis the Menace" (1959) TV series, which ran on CBS from 1959
to 1963, and is fondly remembered by baby boomers everywhere. The
entire country loved it, and Hank recalled: "I set the whole thing in
Wichita, Kansas, and as a result I got made an honorary mayor of
Wichita." The newspaper funnies gave rise to collected works of his
strips, 50 million "Dennis the Menace" books have been sold. In real
life, Hank remarried, then his 2nd marriage ended in divorce. He
married a 3rd time, to Rolande, and they had 2 wonderful children,
Scott and Dania. The comic strip continued to have tremendous success.
Hank stopped drawing the Sunday funnies in the mid-1980s. There was a
"Dennis" musical, and a 1993 movie. Hank retired from drawing the
weekday sketches in 1994, leaving the work to assistants, but he was
still overseeing it. March 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of "Dennis
the Menace," now running in 1,000 newspapers. Hank died on June 1,
2001, at his home in Pebble Beach; he was 81. In an interview, Hank had
shared his thoughts on his creation: "There's some little bright spot
in your day that reminds you that it's fun to smile."
