Virgil Franklin Partch
Encyclopedia
Virgil Franklin Partch was one of the most prominent and prolific American
magazine gag cartoonists of the 1940s and 1950s. His unusual style, surreal humor and familiar abbreviated signature (VIP) made his cartoons distinctive and eye-catching.
Partch's cartoons expressed a dry, sardonic wit, and his characters were instantly recognizable by their lipless mouths, large triangular noses, thin ankles and thin wrists, and sometimes well-combed bangs. He was a gagwriter for The New Yorker
magazine, but his own cartoons were rarely published there because, according to VIP biographer Bhob Stewart
, "New Yorker editor Harold Ross
couldn't stomach VIP's drawing style."
, Partch attended high school in Tucson, Arizona
and studied at the University of Arizona
. In 1937, Partch enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute
in Los Angeles, where he attended Rico LeBrun
's classes for six months before dropping out. He later began a four-year stint working for Disney
studios — his departure was connected to the Disney animators' strike
of 1941. Soon he began selling gag cartoon
s to large-circulation magazines, including Collier's
and True
. After he left Disney, he worked briefly for Walter Lantz
on Woody Woodpecker
cartoons.
Out of the Army, Partch freelanced for ERA Productions
with great success. He published a number of books of single-panel cartoons, some previously published, others done specifically for the books. His 1950 bestseller, Bottle Fatigue, focused on alcohol-themed humor, selling nearly 95,000 hardcover copies by the decade's end. Many of VIP's cartoons depicted a suave, urban sophisticate or trendy suburbanite, revealing him to be a dipsomaniac obsessed with sex, power, prestige and money. In VIP Throws a Party, one of his cartoons shows a depressed man sitting over his drink in a dark corner table, all alone, saying, "Sometimes I get so tired of me, I make myself sick." On the cover of Cartoon Fun a surfer holds the loose bikini-top straps of a woman who says, "I hope you know how to steer this thing, Sam."
Big George and created the lesser-known but somewhat edgier strip, The Captain's Gig (about a motley bunch of mariners and castaways), syndicated by Field Enterprises. He also illustrated several children's books.
From 1956, Partch lived in a house on the cliffs above Corona del Mar in Newport Beach
. He often joined the cartoonists who regularly met at midday in the bar at the White House restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach
: Phil and Frank Interlandi, Ed Nofziger, John Dempsey, Don Tobin, Roger Armstrong, Dick Shaw and Dick Oldden. The gathering began after Phil Interlandi moved to Laguna Beach in 1952. "That was the first bar I walked into in Laguna," Interlandi explained in 1982, "and it became a habit."
library. Partch and his wife died in an auto accident August 10, 1984 on Interstate 5
near Valencia, California
. His uncle was the composer Harry Partch
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
magazine gag cartoonists of the 1940s and 1950s. His unusual style, surreal humor and familiar abbreviated signature (VIP) made his cartoons distinctive and eye-catching.
Partch's cartoons expressed a dry, sardonic wit, and his characters were instantly recognizable by their lipless mouths, large triangular noses, thin ankles and thin wrists, and sometimes well-combed bangs. He was a gagwriter for The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine, but his own cartoons were rarely published there because, according to VIP biographer Bhob Stewart
Bhob Stewart
Bhob Stewart is an American writer, editor, artist and film maker who has written for a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles and reviews have appeared in TV Guide, Publishers Weekly and other publications, along with online contributions to Allmovie, the Collecting...
, "New Yorker editor Harold Ross
Harold Ross
Harold Wallace Ross was an American journalist and founder of The New Yorker magazine, which he edited from the magazine's inception in 1925 to his death....
couldn't stomach VIP's drawing style."
Departing Disney
Born on Saint Paul Island, AlaskaSaint Paul Island, Alaska
Saint Paul Island is the largest of the Pribilof Islands, a group of five Alaskan volcanic islands located in the Bering Sea between the United States and Russia. The city of St. Paul is the only residential area on the island. The two nearest islands to Saint Paul Island are Otter Island to the...
, Partch attended high school in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
and studied at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
. In 1937, Partch enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...
in Los Angeles, where he attended Rico LeBrun
Rico Lebrun
Rico Lebrun was an Italy-born, Italian-American painter and sculptor.-Biography :Lebrun was born on December 10, 1900 in Naples, Italy. His formal art education consisted of attending technical school and art classes at night, studying the Old Masters in museums, and assisting fresco painters...
's classes for six months before dropping out. He later began a four-year stint working for Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
studios — his departure was connected to the Disney animators' strike
Disney animators' strike
The Disney animators' strike was a labor strike by the animators of Walt Disney Studios in 1941.-History:The 1930s led to a rise of labor unions in motion pictures as in other industries such as The Screen Actors Guild which was formed in 1933. Animators of Fleischer Studios went on strike in 1937...
of 1941. Soon he began selling gag cartoon
Gag cartoon
A gag cartoon is most often a single-panel cartoon, usually including a hand-lettered or typeset caption beneath the drawing. A pantomime cartoon carries no caption...
s to large-circulation magazines, including Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
and True
True (magazine)
True, also known as True, The Man's Magazine, was published by Fawcett Publications from 1937 until 1974. Known as True, A Man's Magazine in the 1930s, it was labeled True, #1 Man's Magazine in the 1960s. Petersen Publishing took over with the January 1975, issue...
. After he left Disney, he worked briefly for Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz
Walter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, film producer, and director, best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.-Early years and start in animation:...
on Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...
cartoons.
WWII
Partch was drafted into the US Army in 1944, and by the end of his two-year stint had been transferred from the infantry to become art director and cartoonist of the Army's weekly newspaper, the Fort Ord Panorama.Out of the Army, Partch freelanced for ERA Productions
ERA Productions
ERA Productions, Inc. was a commercial studio in the 1950s and 1960s. Due to the Disney animators' strike in 1941, many animators defected eventually to ERA, such as Ed Ardal, Ward Kimball and Virgil "Vip" Partch. The company was helmed by president Brice Mack, a background painter from Disney....
with great success. He published a number of books of single-panel cartoons, some previously published, others done specifically for the books. His 1950 bestseller, Bottle Fatigue, focused on alcohol-themed humor, selling nearly 95,000 hardcover copies by the decade's end. Many of VIP's cartoons depicted a suave, urban sophisticate or trendy suburbanite, revealing him to be a dipsomaniac obsessed with sex, power, prestige and money. In VIP Throws a Party, one of his cartoons shows a depressed man sitting over his drink in a dark corner table, all alone, saying, "Sometimes I get so tired of me, I make myself sick." On the cover of Cartoon Fun a surfer holds the loose bikini-top straps of a woman who says, "I hope you know how to steer this thing, Sam."
Sailing into syndication
Later in his career Partch drew the successful syndicated comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Big George and created the lesser-known but somewhat edgier strip, The Captain's Gig (about a motley bunch of mariners and castaways), syndicated by Field Enterprises. He also illustrated several children's books.
From 1956, Partch lived in a house on the cliffs above Corona del Mar in Newport Beach
Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, California
Corona del Mar or CdM is a neighborhood in the affluent city of Newport Beach, California. It generally consists of all land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, as well as the development of Irvine Terrace, just north of Avocado...
. He often joined the cartoonists who regularly met at midday in the bar at the White House restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach is a seaside resort city and artist community located in southern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southwest of the county seat of Santa Ana...
: Phil and Frank Interlandi, Ed Nofziger, John Dempsey, Don Tobin, Roger Armstrong, Dick Shaw and Dick Oldden. The gathering began after Phil Interlandi moved to Laguna Beach in 1952. "That was the first bar I walked into in Laguna," Interlandi explained in 1982, "and it became a habit."
Archives
With the onset of cataracts, Partch retired from cartooning in January 1984 and donated his collection of 3,700 original cartoons to the University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
library. Partch and his wife died in an auto accident August 10, 1984 on Interstate 5
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean coastline from Canada to Mexico . It serves some of the largest cities on the U.S...
near Valencia, California
Valencia, California
Valencia is an affluent planned community located in the City of Santa Clarita, California and Los Angeles County, California, U.S. in the northwestern corner of the Santa Clarita Valley, adjacent to Interstate 5. In 1987, it was one of the four unincorporated communities that merged to create the...
. His uncle was the composer Harry Partch
Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
.
Sources
- Moore, Scott. "Life Inside a Comic Strip," Los Angeles Times (December 26, 1974), p. E1
- "Obituary," Los Angeles Times, (August 12, 1984), Metro Section, p. B1.