Roy Nelson
Encyclopedia
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. After graduation, Roy joined the staff of The Chicago Daily News as an artist-reporter, contributing caricatures, cartoons and comics.
During this period, Roy also contributed many cartoons to Esquire magazine starting with the first issue in October, 1933.
Roy left the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
briefly in the early 1930s and joined the staff of Walt Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
studios, producing publicity artwork and assisting in drawing the daily Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
newspaper strip. After several months he returned to Chicago and the Daily News.
Roy worked for the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
for over 14 years before entering the army at the start of the second world war. He served for 3 years, and after the end of the war returned to his home town in Minnesota where he resumed his career as a cartoonist, working freelance for various clients including The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
, Hearst Newspapers and Saalfield
Saalfield Publishing
The Saalfield Publishing Company published children's books and other products from 1900 to 1977. It was once one of the largest publishers of children's materials in the world....
books.
In 1950, Roy married Marcella Colberg. Three years later, Roy was diagnosed with lung cancer and entered a VA
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
hospital for treatment. Roy died in 1956 as reported in the Tower News upon Marcella's recent death.
Roy Nelson's work is currently showcased on the webpage Cartoonretro.com. Cartoonretro president Shane Glines
Shane Glines
Shane Glines is an illustrator, animator, and character designer. He is the founder of CartoonRetro and currently serves as its president.-Animation:Glines has done work for several well known series...
, author of Tophats and Flappers: The Art of Russell Patterson
Russell Patterson
Russell Patterson was a celebrated and prolific American cartoonist, illustrator and scenic designer. Patterson’s art deco magazine illustrations helped promote the idea of the 1920s and 1930s fashion style known as the flapper.Patterson was born in Omaha, Nebraska...
, is currently writing a major monograph on the life and work of Roy Nelson titled Roy Nelson: The Art of Appeal.