Hilda Terry
Hilda Terry | |
---|---|
Born | Theresa Hilda Fellman June 15, 1914 Newburyport, Massachusetts |
Died | October 13, 2006 New York City | (aged 92)
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Cartoonist |
Notable works | Teena |
Awards | National Cartoonists Society Animation Award, 1979 Friends of Lulu Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame, 2001 |
Theresa Hilda D’Alessio (June 25, 1914 – October 13, 2006), better known as Hilda Terry, was an American cartoonist who created the comic strip Teena. It ran in newspapers from 1944 to 1964.[1] After marriage, she usually signed her name Theresa H. D’Alessio. In 1950, she became the first woman allowed to join the National Cartoonists Society.
Biography
Born Theresa Hilda Fellman in Newburyport, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of a man who lettered roulette wheels. She admired the sports cartoons of Willard Mullin, wanted to become a sports cartoonist and spent time sketching at sports events. She arrived in New York when she was 17 and spent two years working as a waitress at Schrafft's. During the mid-1930s, she reconsidered her career plan after she entered both a sports cartoon and a funny cartoon in a newspaper contest, winning a prize with the funny cartoon.[2]
While working as a waitress, she studied art at the Art Students League. One of her teachers there was Gregory d'Alessio, and they married in 1938. She was signed by King Features Syndicate to create a feature comic strip, It's A Girl's Life, which would soon become Teena, the strip for which she is most well-known. The strip premiered December 7, 1941, and ran until 1964.[1] She also won a contest and a $100 war bond for the best "Waste-not" cartoon sponsored by the Office of War Information and the War Production Board in 1943.[3]
She led an active life during the late 1940s, serving as a
Comics historian Tom Spurgeon detailed how she broke through barriers at the once all-male National Cartoonists Society in 1950:
- Terry was early on a magazine cartoonist, and is said to have placed work in such high-profile outlets as The Saturday Evening Post and The New Yorker. Terry's work on Teena displays the clarity and precision of magazine-style cartooning, which must have helped it stand out, particularly in its initial years when a more decorative style was still on display in several features. Teena was a King Features strip, and was licensed briefly to comic books (at Standard) as well. Terry was a member of the Art Students League of New York, where she met her future husband Gregory d'Alessio, who preceded Terry in death. In 1949, d'Alessio submitted his wife's name for membership in the then all-male National Cartoonists Society, putting her on the ballot with magazine cartoonist Barbara Shermund. She was admitted a year later after much debate, and immediately set about bringing more female cartoonists into the fold. She later became an award-winning animator and pioneering contributor to sports-stadium animations, and pursued a variety of personal interests until her death.[4]
Once she was a member of the NCS, she proposed Gladys Parker and other women cartoonists for memberships.[2]
Animation
She drew portraits of ballplayers for
Books
In the 1970s, Terry collaborated with the controversial ex-
D'Alessio, who was men's president of the Art Students League, died in 1994. Even into her eighties and nineties, Terry continued her teaching at the Art Students League.[1]
Fascinated with the
Awards
Terry received the Animation Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1979.[1] She was elected to the Friends of Lulu Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame in 2001.[8]
8 Henderson Place Foundation
Terry and d'Alessio's home in New York was designated as a non-profit foundation. Terry saw it as an archival repository, as well as a place to showcase her husband's paintings. It is a New York City landmark that sits at the entrance to Carl Schurz Park and Gracie Mansion.[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Miller, Stephen (October 18, 2006). "Hilda Terry, 92, Cartoonist and Scoreboard Artist". New York Sun.
- ^ a b c Robbins, Trina and Catherine Yronwode. Women and the Comics. Eclipse Books, 1985.
- ProQuest 106730590.
- ^ Spurgeon, Tom (October 17, 2006). "Hilda Terry, 1914–2006". The Comics Reporter.
- ISBN 0-932087-55-8.
- ^ a b 8 Henderson Place
- ^ "Forgotten Has-Beens." Hilda Terry Art & Artist File, Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library, Smithsonian Libraries, Washington, D.C. Consulted 9/29/2017.
- ^ "Lulu Award". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013.
- ^ Hilda Terry d'Alessio to Stephanie Cassidy. Hilda Terry Art & Artist File, Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library, Smithsonian Libraries, Washington, D.C. Consulted 9/29/2017.