Drawing caricatures of people is a natural part of a cartoonist's life. Many earn a good living by specializing in that type of work. Most just draw a few as gags to show and give to fellow artists. All of his life Barks was interested in drawing caricatures and he often had his eye on the celebrities of the day. Sometimes they were drawn quite plainly, sometimes they were slightly disguised, but it is plain to see that he liked the work. On this page you will find a broad selection of celebrities drawn from different stages of Barks' life: from childhood to old age.

 

 

SCHOOL

One of Barks' first caricatures made around 1909

American president
Theodore Roosevelt
(1858-1919)
Young Carl acquired a taste for drawing very early in his life and he spend numerous hours copying cartoon characters from the newspapers. He also drew caricatures of famous people from that time.

 

CALGARY EYEOPENER

Referee: Get up, you big jokel. He didn't even hit you! - Boxer: No, he didn't hit me - but, hell, man, what if he had?

American boxer
Jack Dempsey
(1895-1983)

Saint Peter: Now, for heaven's sake, don't git to croonin'!

American singer
Rudy Vallee
(1901-1986)
Barks caricatured a broad variety of persons when he was working for the adult magazine Calgary EyeOpener. Other examples are Mahatma Gandhi and Al Jolson.

 

DISNEY'S

THE AUTOGRAPH HOUND (1939)
A number of celebrities were caricatured in this cartoon: Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Sonja Henie, Joan Crawford, Charlie Chan, Henry Armetta, The Ritz Brothers, Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Charlie McCarthy, Joe E. Lewis, Katherine Hepburn, and the brothers Groucho and Harpo Marx

Swedish born actress
Greta Garbo
(1905-1990)

DONALD'S TANK (1942)
Barks made a memorable parody on Hitler in this cartoon which was never released

Austrian born Nazi leader
Adolf Hitler
(1889-1945)
A few times during his employment at Disney's Barks made caricatures of celebrities from that era.

 

WESTERN

WDCS098
Frank Bucko

American animal hunter
Frank Buck
(1884-1950)

WDCS114
Noble X. Ample

American FBI director
J. Edgar Hoover
(1895-1972)

WDCS245
Jayne Girlsfield

American actress
Jayne Mansfield
(1933-1967)

WDCS245
Snarlin Grando

American actor
Marlon Brando
(1924-)

WDCS245
Brigitte van Doren

French actress
Brigitte Bardot
(1934-)
During his time at Western, Barks put a number of caricatures in the comic book stories. Here are some of the ones he drew. He also just mentioned a few by name such as Perry Cougar (Perry Como), Lizardace (Liberace), and Prince Raindeer (Prince Rainier).

 

STUDIO

35/78
Henry Morgan, Buccaneer

English pirate
Henry Morgan
(1635-1688)

20/78
Blackbeard the Pirate

English buccaneer
Edward Teach
(1680-1718)

43/78
Sir William Blackstone

English lawyer
William Blackstone
(1723-1780)

8/78
Buffalo Bill Cooty

American buffalo hunter
William F. Cody
(1846-1917)
In his golden years, Barks took up painting inspired by his third wife Garé. Apart from the well known duck paintings he also made a great number of caricatures of famous people.

 

 


http://www.cbarks.dk/THECELEBRITIES.htm   Date 2003-08-19