born 1881, New Orleans, La., U.S.
died May 1944, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. cartoonist.
He grew up in California and "passed" as white, along with his Creole parents. He started cartooning after a fall from a scaffold prevented him from working as a house painter. His first comic strip, Lariat Pete , appeared in 1903 in the San Francisco Chronicle ; it was followed by several others. His best-known strip, Krazy Kat , appeared in 1910 and settled in for a run of more than 30 years in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers. Krazy Kat 's fantasy, drawing, and dialogue were of such high quality that some people consider it the finest comic strip ever published.