Elias "Eli" Bauer was born in The Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to Max and Goldie Bauer. It was his passion for art that took him out of the Bronx and into Manhattan, where he attended the School of Industrial Arts.

He went on to become a storyman and layout artist working for Ray Patin Productions in Hollywood, CA, and Terrytoons

Terrytoons

Terrytoons was an animation studio founded by Paul Terry. The studio, located in suburban New Rochelle, New York, operated from 1929 to 1968. Its most popular characters included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Deputy Dawg, Luno and Heckle and Jeckle; these cartoons and all of its...

 in New Rochelle New York. It was while at Terrytoons that Bauer created the popular animated character "Hector Heathcote", the Minute and a Half Man. He also freelanced and found success with his own comic strips "Kermit the Hermit" and "Norman" and formed a production company, Ariel Productions, with the late Al Kouzel that created Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

 animated spots, commercials and continued the Winky Dink and You

Winky Dink and You

Winky Dink And You was a CBS television children's show that aired from 1953 to 1957, on Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m./9:30 central. It was hosted by Jack Barry, and featured the exploits of a cartoon character named Winky Dink and his dog Woofer, with sound effects provided by Joseph Scholnick....

 TV series.
He would later concentrate on writing and drawing his own "gags" for such well known magazines as Playboy

Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

, Penthouse

Penthouse (magazine)

Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...

, Punch

Punch (magazine)

Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...

, Collier's Weekly

Collier's Weekly

Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....

 and Omni

Omni (magazine)

OMNI was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction...

.

In 1958 Eli Bauer married Norma (Dianne) Littlejohn and they had three children: Nyles Bauer, born 1961; Aimee Bauer, born 1962; Laura Bauer, born 1965.