Alex Gard born Alexey Kremkoff in Kazan

Kazan

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, was a cartoonist

Cartoonist

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

. He contributed weekly drawings to the drama section of The New York Herald Tribune, and was hired to create caricatures

Caricature

A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...

 of Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 and other celebrities at Sardi's Restaurant

Sardi's

Sardi's is a restaurant in New York City's theater district at 234 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Known for the hundreds of caricatures of show-business celebrities that adorn its walls, Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927....

 in New York City.

Restaurant owner, Vincent Sardi, and Gard drew up a contract that stated Gard would make the caricatures in exchange for one meal per day at the restaurant. Gard drew caricatures in exchange for meals until his death, ultimately creating over 700 pictures. Today, the caricatures are housed in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...

.

During World War I, Gard worked on a Russian destroyer. After the Bolshevik Revolution, he left Russia for France and drew cartoons for Le Matin

Le Matin (France)

Le Matin was a French daily newspaper created in 1883 and discontinued in 1944.Le Matin was launched on the initiative of Chamberlain & Co, a group of American financiers, in 1883, on the model of the British daily The Morning News. The direction of the project was entrusted to the French...

 in Paris. He came to America in 1924.

Gard created several books of caricatures: Ballet Laughs (New York: The Greystone Press, 1941); Sailors in Boots (New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1943); Getting Salty (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1944); Sick Bay (New York: C. Scribner's, 1945); More Ballet Laughs (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1946) and Stars Off Gard (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1947).

Gard, who lived on East 72nd Street in New York City, collapsed on the street and died as he was being transported to Roosevelt Hospital in 1948.