Melvin Lazarus was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of two comic strips, Miss Peach and Momma. Additionally, he wrote two novels. For his comic stripPauline McPeril, he used the pseudonym Fulton, which is also the name of a character in his first novel, The Boss Is Crazy, Too.
Biography
Lazarus was born in Brooklyn, to Sydney Lazarus, a successful glass-blower, and Frances Lazarus, nicknamed Frankie. Lazarus, who dropped out of high school, published his first cartoon at 16, and later enlisted in the U.S. Navy. During his twenties, he worked for Al Capp and his brother Elliott Caplin at the Capp family-owned Toby Press. In the mid-1950s, he created two children's syndicated comic strips for General Features, Wee Women and Li'l Ones. Miss Peach debuted on February 4, 1957, in the New York Herald Tribune, and ended up running for nearly 50 years. His comic strip Momma debuted on October 26, 1970. Although Lazarus based the title character on his own mother, she believed the character was based on his aunt, exclaiming, "You caught Aunt Helen to a tee!" In 1964, Lazarus talked about his background and working methods: Lazarus served as President of the National Cartoonists Society for two consecutive terms, from 1989 to 1993. In 1992, Lazarus made a cameo appearance in the Murder, She Wrote episode "The Dead File".
Books
His novel The Boss Is Crazy, Too concerns Carson Hemple, art director of a comic-book and confession-magazine publishing company, who is told by the owner to help force the company into bankruptcy, and who responds with inventive embezzlement schemes. The book was inspired by his time at Toby Press. The Neighborhood Watch is about an impoverished Brooklyn writer who steals from his wealthy neighbors. Its protagonist, widowed father Loring Neiman, having turned to burglary when his book is rejected, discovers he has a knack for it. He prepares to give up the criminal life after becoming romantically involved with a married woman, but a criminally inclined neighbor coerces him into one purportedly final robbery. It was optioned for a movie.
Awards
Lazarus won the National Cartoonists Society's award for Newspaper Strip, Humor, in 1973 and 1979, both times for Miss Peach. He won the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, for Miss Peach, in 1981, and the organization's Silver T-Square Award in 2000. On January 23, 2016, Lazarus became the second recipient of the National Cartoonists Society Medal of Honor, established the year before.
Personal life
Lazarus was married twice, first to Eileen Lazarus, which ended in divorce; then to Sally Mitchell, daughter of comic-strip gag writer Ed Mitchell. Lazarus lived in Los Angeles from the 1970s until his death on May 24, 2016. from complications from Alzheimer's. He had three daughters, Marjorie, Susan and Cathy.
