Milt Gross
Milt Gross was an influential American cartoonist and comic strip artist born in the Bronx, New York, in 1895. He began his artistic journey at a young age, publishing his first comic strip, "Phool Phan Phables," at the age of twenty, though it did not achieve notable success. His career faced interruptions due to World War I, but he gained recognition in the 1920s, notably through his humorous newspaper column "Gross Exaggerations" for The New York World. Gross's work often reflected the experiences of Yiddish-speaking immigrants, featuring characters such as Jewish mothers conversing from their tenement windows, which resonated with a wide audience. Throughout the 1930s, he sought to innovate within the comic strip medium and produced several new works. In the 1940s, Gross became a celebrity and ventured into film scripts and radio, including the show "That's My Pop." Despite his prolific output, his career was cut short by health issues, leading to his death in 1953 after suffering two heart attacks. Gross's legacy continues to influence the world of comic art and humor.
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Subject Terms
Milt Gross
Writer
- Born: March 4, 1895
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: November 28, 1953
Biography
Milt Gross was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1895. He began drawing by the age of twelve, and he published his first comic strip, Phool Phan Phables, when he was twenty. The comic strip was published in The New York Journal and featured an over-enthusiastic sports fan named George Phan. At the time, Gross was employed by Tad Dorgan, an important sports cartoonist. Gross had been trying to get a comic strip published for some time, and when he finally got the opportunity to write one, it was not a success. Gross’s career was interrupted by World War I, and it was not until the 1920’s that Gross started to have some success.
During the 1920’s, Gross expanded his repertoire, and he began to illustrate a newspaper column called “Gross Exaggerations” for The New York World. In 1926, a number of his columns were published in a collected volume called Nize Baby. The following year, Nize Baby was published as a Sunday newspaper page. Gross’s work was characterized by the dialect of Yiddish immigrants who were struggling to fit into American society. His characters were often Jewish mothers who conversed out the windows of their New York tenement houses.
However, by the 1930’s, Gross seemed determined to create new and different comic strips, and he created several new comic strips and had two more books published. In the 1940’s, Gross became a celebrity and he started working on film scripts and had a radio show based on one of his comic strips called That’s My Pop. Gross continued to produce new comic strips and books until 1945, when he suffered a heart attack. His book Dear Dollink was published in the same year. Gross died from his second heart attack in 1953.