Lew Schwartz
Encyclopedia
Lew Schwartz was an American comic book artist
, ad-man and award winning film-maker, credited as a ghost artist
for Bob Kane
on DC Comics
superhero
Batman
from either 1946 or 1947 through to 1953. During this period he is credited with writer David Vern Reed
as co-creator of the villain Deadshot
in Batman #59 (July 1950). Alongside Pablo Ferro
and Fred Mogubgub
, he was the co-founder of Ferro, Mogubgub and Schwartz in 1961, with notable work including the animated credits to the Stanley Kubrick
film Dr. Strangelove. Schwartz also produced a film about comic strip artist Milton Caniff
in 1981, and was a teacher at the School of Visual Arts
in New York. He was the recipient of an Inkpot Award
in 2002, and four Emmy Awards. Animator Jed Schwartz of Jed Schwartz Productions is his son and type designer Christian Schwartz
is his grandson.
on July 24, 1926. He was educated at the Swain School of Design
. Already a fan of Chic Young
, artist on the Blondie
comic strip, it was here he became introduced to the art of Milton Caniff
, Noel Sickles
and David Stone Martin
through a school friend. After Swain Schwartz went to the Art Students League of New York
and became friendly with Milton Caniff, occasionally spending his lunch breaks at Caniff's watching him work. Schwartz described Caniff as a father figure:
on Scorchy Smith
. In 1946, as well as becoming a founding member of the National Cartoonists Society
, Schwartz met Bob Kane on a beach in Miami. Kane hired him to work on a baseball strip called Dusty Diamond which Kane stated he was developing with Will Eisner
. Although Eisner had no memory of this strip in later years, Eddie Campbell
has identified it as being for publication in Tab— The Comic Weekly. The strip never saw print as Tab was cancelled after one issue. In 1947, Schwartz was hired as an artist for the Herald-Tribune comic strip based on The Saint
. However, creative difficulties led to Schwartz leaving the strip in place of Mike Roy. After The Saint, Schwartz found a job at King Features Syndicate
through Caniff, initially working on preparing the Steve Canyon
strip for publication in various sizes. He also ghosted on the Brick Bradford
and Secret Agent X-9
newspaper strips.
and Joe Shuster
for ownership of their respective characters. Instead, Kane signed a deal with DC which guaranteed him steady income producing a set number of Batman story pages a year for publication. Kane then hired other artists to produce this work for him. Schwartz was one such artist hired, and stated that he likely produced 240 pages a year for Kane over a seven-year period. Schwartz notes that Kane was "afraid to give anybody else any credit... Bob was scared to death it would be taken away if he acknowledged people that were helping him or even drawing for the strip." For his own part, Schwartz kept quiet about the assignment due in part to its well paid nature and in part to shame: "I didn't want to be associated with the books. At that particular time it was beneath my status... or my objectives. Let's put it that way."
, and found himself assigned to the Eighth Army stationed in Seoul
. Here he entertained the troops doing "chalk talks", inevitably once again drawing Batman day after day. After Korea, Schwartz found employment in the advertising industry, first with the J. Walter Thompson Company, where he started as a story-board artist but soon worked his way up through Art Director to a Producer in the Film Department. In 1961 he left J. Walker Thompson and entered into partnership with the animators Pablo Ferro and Fred Mogubgub, founding Ferro, Mogubgub and Schwartz, with Schwartz bringing his ad agency experience to the table. The company went on to receive six Clio Awards
, and also produced the acclaimed animated credits for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. It was through Schwartz that Kubrick acquired the stock footage of the explosion which ends the movie. Schwartz sourced and arranged for it to be delivered to London through a contact Milton Caniff had in the USAF. Towards the end of the 1960s Schwartz formed his own company working as a film-maker and producing sequences for Sesame Street
and numerous network specials. During this time Schwartz's work garnered four Emmy Awards, including one in 1968 for Take It Off, broadcast on November 4, 1967 on WABC-TV
. He also wrote, directed and produced documentaries on both Norman Rockwell
, Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post, and a self -financed one on Milton Caniff, describing them both as "labors of love".
By 1988 Schwartz had co-founded The Dinosaur Group Inc., producing The Dinosaur Group, a weekly strip for The Standard Times. This lasted for five years. He was then hired by the City of New Bedford
to produce a graphic novel version of Moby Dick, for which he performed lay-out duties from which Dick Giordano
provided the art. Schwartz found this collaboration, in contrast to the one with Kane, to be a very joyful experience. Schwartz also taught at the School of Visual Arts
where he created the school's film department.
Comic book creator
A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...
, ad-man and award winning film-maker, credited as a ghost artist
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
for Bob Kane
Bob Kane
Bob Kane was an American comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comics superhero Batman...
on DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
from either 1946 or 1947 through to 1953. During this period he is credited with writer David Vern Reed
David Vern Reed
David Vern Reed born David Levine, was an American writer, best known for his work on the Batman comic book during the 1950s, in a run that included a revamp of the Batplane in Batman #61 and the introduction of Deadshot in Batman #59.-Biography:Born David Levine, David Vern Reed grew up to become...
as co-creator of the villain Deadshot
Deadshot
Deadshot is a fictional character, a supervillain/assassin in the DC Universe and an enemy of Batman. He first appears in Batman #59 and was created by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz....
in Batman #59 (July 1950). Alongside Pablo Ferro
Pablo Ferro
Pablo Ferro is a graphic designer and film titles designer.Born in Antilla, Oriente Province, Cuba, he was raised on a remote farm until emigrating to New York with his family as a teen.- Education :...
and Fred Mogubgub
Fred Mogubgub
Fred Mogubgub was an animator and painter who first came to attention through his films related to the pop art movement of the 1960s in New York City....
, he was the co-founder of Ferro, Mogubgub and Schwartz in 1961, with notable work including the animated credits to the Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
film Dr. Strangelove. Schwartz also produced a film about comic strip artist Milton Caniff
Milton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.-Biography:...
in 1981, and was a teacher at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York. He was the recipient of an Inkpot Award
Inkpot Award
The Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
in 2002, and four Emmy Awards. Animator Jed Schwartz of Jed Schwartz Productions is his son and type designer Christian Schwartz
Christian Schwartz
Christian Schwartz is an American type designer. He has been awarded the German Design Award and the Prix Charles Peignot.-Life :...
is his grandson.
Early life and education
Schwartz was born in New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
on July 24, 1926. He was educated at the Swain School of Design
Swain School of Design
The Swain School of Design was a non-profit educational institution that is currently part of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts.- History :...
. Already a fan of Chic Young
Chic Young
Murat Bernard Young , better known as Chic Young, was an American cartoonist who created the popular, long-running comic strip Blondie. His 1919 William McKinley High School Yearbook cites his nickname as Chicken, source of his familiar pen name and signature...
, artist on the Blondie
Blondie (comic strip)
Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...
comic strip, it was here he became introduced to the art of Milton Caniff
Milton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.-Biography:...
, Noel Sickles
Noel Sickles
Noel Douglas Sickles was an American commercial illustrator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Scorchy Smith....
and David Stone Martin
David Stone Martin
David Stone Martin , born David Livingstone Martin, was an influential American artist best known for his illustrations on jazz record albums....
through a school friend. After Swain Schwartz went to the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
and became friendly with Milton Caniff, occasionally spending his lunch breaks at Caniff's watching him work. Schwartz described Caniff as a father figure:
War years and early work
In 1944, Schwartz enlisted in the Navy, describing it as more partial than the Army, and he was trained at Jacksonville as a radar operator and gunner. After two years service, Schwartz left the Navy and for a time worked for Rod WillardRod Willard
Rod Stephen Willard is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in one National Hockey League game for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1982–83 NHL season.-External links:...
on Scorchy Smith
Scorchy Smith
Scorchy Smith was an American adventure comic strip created by artist John Terry that ran from 1930 to 1961.Scorchy Smith was a pilot-for-hire whose initial adventures took him across America, fighting criminals and aiding damsels in distress...
. In 1946, as well as becoming a founding member of the National Cartoonists Society
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
, Schwartz met Bob Kane on a beach in Miami. Kane hired him to work on a baseball strip called Dusty Diamond which Kane stated he was developing with Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
. Although Eisner had no memory of this strip in later years, Eddie Campbell
Eddie Campbell
Eddie Campbell is a Scottish comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of From Hell , Campbell is also the creator of the semi-autobiographical Alec stories collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and Bacchus , a wry adventure...
has identified it as being for publication in Tab— The Comic Weekly. The strip never saw print as Tab was cancelled after one issue. In 1947, Schwartz was hired as an artist for the Herald-Tribune comic strip based on The Saint
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
. However, creative difficulties led to Schwartz leaving the strip in place of Mike Roy. After The Saint, Schwartz found a job at King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
through Caniff, initially working on preparing the Steve Canyon
Steve Canyon
Steve Canyon was a long-running American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon ran from January 13, 1947 until June 4, 1988, shortly after Caniff's death...
strip for publication in various sizes. He also ghosted on the Brick Bradford
Brick Bradford
Brick Bradford was a science fiction comic strip created by writer William Ritt, a journalist based in Cleveland, and artist Clarence Gray. It was first distributed in 1933 by Central Press Association, a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate....
and Secret Agent X-9
Secret Agent X-9
Secret Agent X-9 was a comic strip begun by writer Dashiell Hammett and artist Alex Raymond . Syndicated by King Features, it ran from January 22, 1934 until February 10, 1996....
newspaper strips.
Batman
Schwartz also began ghosting for Bob Kane. Kane, advised by his father, had refused to enter into a class action against DC Comics with Superman creators Jerry SiegelJerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
for ownership of their respective characters. Instead, Kane signed a deal with DC which guaranteed him steady income producing a set number of Batman story pages a year for publication. Kane then hired other artists to produce this work for him. Schwartz was one such artist hired, and stated that he likely produced 240 pages a year for Kane over a seven-year period. Schwartz notes that Kane was "afraid to give anybody else any credit... Bob was scared to death it would be taken away if he acknowledged people that were helping him or even drawing for the strip." For his own part, Schwartz kept quiet about the assignment due in part to its well paid nature and in part to shame: "I didn't want to be associated with the books. At that particular time it was beneath my status... or my objectives. Let's put it that way."
After Batman
Schwartz left Batman in 1953, describing himself as unable and unwilling to draw Batman for Bob Kane again. He joined a Cartoonists Society trip to Korea, during the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, and found himself assigned to the Eighth Army stationed in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. Here he entertained the troops doing "chalk talks", inevitably once again drawing Batman day after day. After Korea, Schwartz found employment in the advertising industry, first with the J. Walter Thompson Company, where he started as a story-board artist but soon worked his way up through Art Director to a Producer in the Film Department. In 1961 he left J. Walker Thompson and entered into partnership with the animators Pablo Ferro and Fred Mogubgub, founding Ferro, Mogubgub and Schwartz, with Schwartz bringing his ad agency experience to the table. The company went on to receive six Clio Awards
Clio Awards
The Clio Awards are annual awards bestowed to reward innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communication. The categories include work in nearly all types of media, and the judges are advertising professionals from around the world....
, and also produced the acclaimed animated credits for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. It was through Schwartz that Kubrick acquired the stock footage of the explosion which ends the movie. Schwartz sourced and arranged for it to be delivered to London through a contact Milton Caniff had in the USAF. Towards the end of the 1960s Schwartz formed his own company working as a film-maker and producing sequences for Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and numerous network specials. During this time Schwartz's work garnered four Emmy Awards, including one in 1968 for Take It Off, broadcast on November 4, 1967 on WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
. He also wrote, directed and produced documentaries on both Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
, Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post, and a self -financed one on Milton Caniff, describing them both as "labors of love".
By 1988 Schwartz had co-founded The Dinosaur Group Inc., producing The Dinosaur Group, a weekly strip for The Standard Times. This lasted for five years. He was then hired by the City of New Bedford
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
to produce a graphic novel version of Moby Dick, for which he performed lay-out duties from which Dick Giordano
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...
provided the art. Schwartz found this collaboration, in contrast to the one with Kane, to be a very joyful experience. Schwartz also taught at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
where he created the school's film department.
External links
- Greenberger, RobertRobert GreenbergerRobert "Bob" Greenberger known for his work as an editor for Comics Scene, Starlog Press and Weekly World News, as well as holding executive positions at both Marvel Comics and DC Comics. He is also an elected office holder in his home of Fairfield, Connecticut.-Early life:Greenberger was born in...
, "Batman Artist Lew Sayre Schwartz Dead at 84", ComicMix.com, June 21, 2011