Leslie Turner
Encyclopedia
Leslie Turner known to his friends as Les Turner, was a syndicated comic strip writer-artist who produced the adventures of Captain Easy
for more than three decades.
Born in Cisco, Texas
, Turner grew up from age eight in Wichita Falls, Texas
, where he started drawing while in high school. His grandfather was the courthouse architect and builder A. C. Swinburne, responsible for numerous courthouses across West Texas.
After serving briefly in the U.S. Army near the end of World War I
, Turner began profiting from his art talent while a freshman at Southern Methodist University
. He dropped out of college for one term to attend the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. While a student at SMU, Turner and his college pals would make vagabond treks around the United States during the summer months. He edited SMU's 1922 yearbook, and after his graduation that same year with an English degree, he worked at a Dallas engraving plant.
, and the newlyweds headed for New York where he became a freelance illustrator with work published in a variety of magazines, including Redbook
, Pictorial Review
, Ladies' Home Journal
and Boys' Life
. It took him two years to crack the major market, The Saturday Evening Post
, work that included illustrating the popular "Plupy" stories of Henry Shute
.
Jim Ivey, curator of the Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida
, stated, "He was one of the best magazine illustrators in the 1920s and 1930s—the Golden Age of magazine illustrating. He was a superb artist." After six years in New York, the couple and their two daughters moved in 1929 to Colorado where they ran a small sheep ranch while living in a two-story stone house constructed by Turner. Unfortunately, the freelance assignments from New York soon slowed, but their Colorado claim required them to spend three years on the ranch. After four years in Colorado, they returned to New York, where Turner found work doing advertising illustrations.
, Turner began in comics in 1937 as an assistant on Crane's Wash Tubbs
strip. Crane recalled their youthful adventures:
When Crane moved to Orlando, the Turner family followed in 1938, living at 1218 Conway Road, where Turner designed and built all the furniture in the house.
, Turner took over the daily Wash Tubbs, and his signature first appeared on the strip May 31, 1943. In January 1944, Turner made comic strip history when he observed a fighter plane flying over his home in Orlando. He drew it into Wash Tubbs, surprising the War Department. The aircraft was the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, and Turner's drawing of it appeared two days before the Army's official announcement.
In the late 1940s, Turner changed the title to Captain Easy, taking on Walt Scott as a Sunday page assistant during the 1940s and 1950s. At its peak, the strip was carried in 600 newspapers. It was noted for its scientific accuracy, and the Captain explained the binary system to readers when computers were in their infancy. In 1949, Turner did extensive research into alcoholism in order to write a strip sequence on the rehabilitation of drunkard Gig Wilty. The story arc brought Turner praise from many members of Alcoholics Anonymous. Ten years later, he researched hypnotism for a sequence timed to coincide with publicity for the movie The Hypnotic Eye
(1960).
The Sunday page
was drawn by Mel Graff during the 1960s. In late 1969-70, Turner's assistant Bill Crooks took over the art and Jim Lawrence scripted. At the time of Turner's death in Orlando in 1988, Crooks commented, "Everything I learned about the comic strip business I learned from him."
Turner had three daughters, Ann, Joy and Toby. Ann Turner Cook
found fame as the model for the Gerber Baby
, trademarked art reproduced from a 1928 charcoal sketch by the Turner family's neighbor, artist Dorothy Hope Smith. Cook, who taught literature and creative writing in Tampa, Florida
for 26 years, writes the Brandy O'Bannon mystery novels, including Trace Their Shadows and Shadow over Cedar Key, set on Florida's Gulf Coast.
.
Captain Easy
Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune was an action/adventure comic strip created by Roy Crane that was syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association beginning on Sunday, July 30, 1933...
for more than three decades.
Born in Cisco, Texas
Cisco, Texas
Cisco is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,851 at the 2000 census.-History:Conrad Hilton started the Hilton Hotel chain with a single hotel bought in Cisco. Hilton came to Cisco to buy a bank, but the bank cost too much; so he purchased the Mobley Hotel in 1919...
, Turner grew up from age eight in Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
, where he started drawing while in high school. His grandfather was the courthouse architect and builder A. C. Swinburne, responsible for numerous courthouses across West Texas.
After serving briefly in the U.S. Army near the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Turner began profiting from his art talent while a freshman at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
. He dropped out of college for one term to attend the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. While a student at SMU, Turner and his college pals would make vagabond treks around the United States during the summer months. He edited SMU's 1922 yearbook, and after his graduation that same year with an English degree, he worked at a Dallas engraving plant.
Newlyweds in New York
While freelancing from Dallas, he sold a cartoon to Judge. He then married Bethel Burson of Silverton, TexasSilverton, Texas
Silverton is a city in Briscoe County, Texas, United States. The population was 771 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Briscoe County.-Geography:Silverton is located at ....
, and the newlyweds headed for New York where he became a freelance illustrator with work published in a variety of magazines, including Redbook
Redbook
Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...
, Pictorial Review
Pictorial Review
Pictorial Review is a magazine which first appeared in September, 1899. The magazine was originally designed to showcase dress patterns of William Paul Ahnelt's American Fashion Company. By the late 1920s it was one of the largest of the "women's magazines"....
, Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
and Boys' Life
Boys' Life
Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...
. It took him two years to crack the major market, The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, work that included illustrating the popular "Plupy" stories of Henry Shute
Henry Shute
Henry Augustus Shute was a lawyer and a judge who was best known for his "Plupy" stories in The Saturday Evening Post and a series of books....
.
Jim Ivey, curator of the Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, stated, "He was one of the best magazine illustrators in the 1920s and 1930s—the Golden Age of magazine illustrating. He was a superb artist." After six years in New York, the couple and their two daughters moved in 1929 to Colorado where they ran a small sheep ranch while living in a two-story stone house constructed by Turner. Unfortunately, the freelance assignments from New York soon slowed, but their Colorado claim required them to spend three years on the ranch. After four years in Colorado, they returned to New York, where Turner found work doing advertising illustrations.
Comic strips
A Texas pal of Texan Roy CraneRoy Crane
Royston Campbell Crane , who signed his work Roy Crane, was an influential American cartoonist who created the comic strip characters Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer. He pioneered the adventure comic strip, establishing the conventions and artistic approach of that genre. Comics historian...
, Turner began in comics in 1937 as an assistant on Crane's Wash Tubbs
Wash Tubbs
Wash Tubbs was a comic strip created by Roy Crane that ran from April 14, 1924 to January 10, 1988.Initially titled Washington Tubbs II, it originally was a gag-a-day strip which focused on the mundane misadventures of the title character, a bespectacled bumbler who ran a store. However, Crane soon...
strip. Crane recalled their youthful adventures:
- Les Turner, who later was my assistant on the Wash Tubbs daily strips, is from Wichita Falls. We were going on a sort of bumming trip together after we finished art school. There were no jobs for us, and we went riding freight trains and hitching rides. I missed him by one day when he got a ride to California. I went to Galveston and got a job as ordinary seaman on a tramp steamer to Europe. When we returned and landed at New York, I got my first art job on the New York WorldNew York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
. I started Wash Tubbs in 1924.
When Crane moved to Orlando, the Turner family followed in 1938, living at 1218 Conway Road, where Turner designed and built all the furniture in the house.
Turner takes over
In 1943, when Crane left to do Buz SawyerBuz Sawyer
Buz Sawyer was a popular comic strip created by Roy Crane and highly regarded by comic strip historians. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it had a long run from November 1, 1943 to 1989. The last strip signed by Crane was dated 21 April 1979....
, Turner took over the daily Wash Tubbs, and his signature first appeared on the strip May 31, 1943. In January 1944, Turner made comic strip history when he observed a fighter plane flying over his home in Orlando. He drew it into Wash Tubbs, surprising the War Department. The aircraft was the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, and Turner's drawing of it appeared two days before the Army's official announcement.
In the late 1940s, Turner changed the title to Captain Easy, taking on Walt Scott as a Sunday page assistant during the 1940s and 1950s. At its peak, the strip was carried in 600 newspapers. It was noted for its scientific accuracy, and the Captain explained the binary system to readers when computers were in their infancy. In 1949, Turner did extensive research into alcoholism in order to write a strip sequence on the rehabilitation of drunkard Gig Wilty. The story arc brought Turner praise from many members of Alcoholics Anonymous. Ten years later, he researched hypnotism for a sequence timed to coincide with publicity for the movie The Hypnotic Eye
The Hypnotic Eye
The Hypnotic Eye is a horror film, released by Allied Artists on February 27, 1960, starring Jacques Bergerac, Allison Hayes, Merry Anders, Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, and Ferdinand Demara, billed as "Fred Demara".-Plot:...
(1960).
The Sunday page
Sunday strip
A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
was drawn by Mel Graff during the 1960s. In late 1969-70, Turner's assistant Bill Crooks took over the art and Jim Lawrence scripted. At the time of Turner's death in Orlando in 1988, Crooks commented, "Everything I learned about the comic strip business I learned from him."
Turner had three daughters, Ann, Joy and Toby. Ann Turner Cook
Ann Turner Cook
Ann Turner Cook is an American mystery novelist, who was the model for the familiar Gerber Baby artwork seen on baby-food packages of the Gerber Products Company.-Gerber baby:...
found fame as the model for the Gerber Baby
Gerber Baby
The Gerber Baby is the trademark logo of the Gerber Products Company.-History:Fremont Canning Company, owned and operated by Frank Daniel Gerber and his son Daniel Frank Gerber, were looking for a baby face for its new baby-food campaign that was to start in the later part of 1928...
, trademarked art reproduced from a 1928 charcoal sketch by the Turner family's neighbor, artist Dorothy Hope Smith. Cook, who taught literature and creative writing in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
for 26 years, writes the Brandy O'Bannon mystery novels, including Trace Their Shadows and Shadow over Cedar Key, set on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Awards
In 1965, Turner was honored by 60 Florida cartoonists during their annual Daytona Beach gathering with a plaque presented by cartoonist Dick Hodkins, regional chairman of the National Cartoonists SocietyNational Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
.