The Biography of Jim Davis

Born July 14, 1945 in Marion, Indiana, Jim Davis grew up on a small farm with his dad, Jim Sr., who raised Black Angus cows, his brother Dave, and 25 cats who relied on the hospitality of Jim's mother, Betty.
When asthma forced him inside, away from his regular farm chores, the young Davis spent hours drawing. With little more than his pencil, paper and imagination, he created pictures, which he soon discovered were more fun when accompanied by words.

Jim attended Ball state University in Muncie. As an Art and Business major he distinguished himself by earning one of the lowest accumulative grade point avarages in history of the University.
 Little Jim with a cat
After college, Davis did a two-year stint with a local advertising agency and met and married his wife, Carolyn, a gifted singer and elementary school teacher.

In 1969, he joined Tumbleweeds creator Tom Ryan as his cartoon assistant. In addition to cartooning, Jim maintained a career as a free-lance commercial artist, copywriter, and radio-talent and political-campaign promoter.

Then he created a comic strip about a character named Gnorm Gnat. The strip ran in one Indiana newspaper, but when Davis tried to sell it to a national comic strip syndicate he was told, "It's funny. But bugs? Who can relate to a bug?" After five years of drawing Gnorm, Davis drew a giant foot that fell out of the sky, crushing Gnorm in his last comic appearance.


Jim Davis and Garfield
Davis noticed that there were numerous comic strips about dogs, but few about cats -- even though the world is full of cat lovers. He combined that knowledge with his own memories of the 25 farm cats he grew up with, and Garfield, a fat, lazy, lasagna-loving, cynical cat became his formula for success. Garfield began syndication in 41 newspapers June 19, 1978. Ironically, Davis has no cats; his wife, Carolyn, is allergic.
Early on, Davis decided against using topical references in the strip. "It was a conscious effort to include everyone as readers," he explains. For that reason, Garfield avoids any social or political comment, as well. "Besides," says Davis, "my grasp of the world situation isn't that firm anyway. For years I thought OPEC was a denture adhesive."
Davis adds, "Garfield is an international character. I don't use rhyming gags, plays on words, or colloquialisms in an effort to make Garfield apply to virtually any society where he may appear." The most important part of the formula? "To keep the gags broad and the humor general and applicable to everyone, I deal mainly with eating and sleeping."


Garfield, the fat, lazy, wise-cracking lasagna-eating cat would celebrate his 20th birthday on June 19th 1998, as one of the most popular cartoon characters in the world.
When Davis created Garfield in 1978, he never imagined the phenomenal success and worldwide following that Garfield and friends would command. Garfield is the most widely syndicated Sunday comic in the United States, and worldwide, has more than 220 million readers daily.

For Davis, life with Garfield is very simple: "If we take care of the cat, the cat will take care of us." And, by nurturing and keeping fresh every aspect of Garfield's design, attitude and entertainment quality, Davis has created not only the fastest-growing comic strip in the world, but also dozens of best-selling books that have been translated into 26 languages, a CBS television series and 13 prime-time specials, and a wide range of Garfield merchandise sold in 69 countries.
The strip is pumped out daily, in a cheerful atmosphere among friends. Valette Hildebrand is assistant cartoonist, Brian Strater is art director for merchandising, Neil Alterkruse is production director, Jill Hahn is office manager, and Julie Hamilton is president of Paws, Incorporated.

Paws, Inc., was formed in 1981 to handle the merchandising of the characters in the strip. Paws operates under the strict eye of Davis, who approves each piece of Garfield art before it leaves the studio. With such attention to detail, Davis has been able to maintain the quality of the Garfield character that now appears on thousands of products sold all over the world. Of all the Garfield books published by Ballantine Books, 33 have appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers list; 11 titles hit number one and seven books appeared simultaneously on The New York Times list in 1983.		 Jim Davis among Garfield merchandise


Jim Davis sitting cross-legged
In 1982 Davis' son, James Alexander, was born. Spending time with his teen-age son is one of the things Jim does when he isn't at the drawing board. His other hobbies are golf, fishing, chess, sandwiches and good friends.

In 1981 and 1986, the National Cartoonists Society named Davis Best Humor strip Cartoonist of the Year. In 1985, the NCS gave him the Elzie Segar award for outstanding contributions made in the cartoon industry, and in 1990, the NCS bestowed upon Davis the prestigious Reuben award for outstanding strip of the year.

Davis has won four Emmy awards from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for writing in the Outstanding Animated Program category for "Garfield on the Town" (1983), "Garfield in the Rough" (1984), "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" (1985), and "Garfield's Babes & Bullets" (1989). Each one of the 13 Garfield prime-time specials created for CBS-TV has been nominated for an Emmy. On top of all that, "Garfield and Friends," a popular animated series created for Saturday morning television, debuted in 1988. "Garfield and Friends" can be seen in syndication around the globe.

Davis' time and energy have not been devoted exclusively to cartooning and Garfield. He is also an active environmentalist: In 1990, the National Arbor Day Foundation awarded him the Good Steward award for his efforts in reforestation in his native state of Indiana. Davis is also involved with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a campaign promoting the restoration of wetlands, as well as The National Wildlife Federation's "Build a Schoolyard Habitat" campaign that encourages students to provide wildlife environments on their school grounds. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities awarded Davis the Distinguished Alumnus award for 1985 for his dedication to the promotion of higher education. In 1991, both Ball State University and Purdue University awarded Jim honorary doctorate degrees.
 Jim Davis

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