- Born
- Died
- One of the most influential, yet unsung, figures in American humor, cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman created "Mad Magazine" in 1952, and for the next few years served as its editor and primary writer. After his departure from "Mad, " he created two more humor magazines, "Trump" and "Help!" Although neither was as successful as "Mad", "Help!" did help launch the careers of a number of future luminaries, including Woody Allen, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Robert Crumb and Gloria Steinem. Kurtzman's sole foray into screenwriting, the animated Mad Monster Party? (1967), demonstrates much of the famous "Mad" comedy (including a reference to one of the magazine's trademark nonsense words, "veeblefetzer") and has developed a strong cult following.- IMDb mini biography by: Erich Mees
- SpouseAdele(? - February 21, 1993) (his death, 4 children)
- He had four children with his wife, Adele: daughters, Cornelia, Elizabeth and Meredith; and a son, Peter.
- Employed Terry Gilliam on "Help" magazine in the 1960s. In Gilliam's Brazil (1985), the hero's boss (Ian Holm) is called Kurtzmann in tribute to him.
- As editor of "Help" magazine, he published Robert Crumb's first "Fritz the Cat" strips. Kurtzman wrote to Crumb about his submissions, "We think the little pussycat drawings you sent us were just great. Question is, how do we print them without going to jail?".
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