Smiler trivia . . .

Happy Birthday salute to Walt Kelly!

Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973), best known as Walt Kelly, the cartoonist notable for his comic strip Pogo.

Walt Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and soon after his family moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Bridgeport, attended Warren Harding High School and worked for the local newspaper, The Bridgeport Post, as a reporter and political cartoonist.

Walt Kelly worked for nearly seven years at the Walt Disney Studio, animating on Mickey Mouse shorts and contributing to such features as Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Fantasia.

He loved to draw and illustrated a biography of Bridgeport, CT native P. T. Barnum (See our friends at Barnum Museum too).

Kelly image source (1)