Mort Drucker March 22, 1929 – April 8, 2020

 

Morris Drucker was born on March 22, 1929, in Brooklyn. His father, Edward, was a businessman who repaired jukeboxes and ran a bar, among other things. His mother, Sarah Spielvogel Drucker, was a homemaker. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, where he met his future wife, Barbara Hellerman.

His survivors include his wife; two daughters, Laurie Bachner and Melanie Amsterdam; and three grandchildren.

Moet began his professional career at 18 when, recommended by the cartoonist Will Eisner, a family friend, he got a job assisting on the comic book Debbie Dean, Career Girl. He also worked on a syndicated single-panel strip, “The Mountain Boys,” before finding steady work with National Periodical Publications, now known as DC Comics. He continued to freelance for DC even after joining Mad’s “usual gang of idiots.”

Working in a studio at his home in Woodbury, on Long Island, he also drew magazine illustrations, album covers, movie posters, and advertisements.

Mr. Drucker was modest about his gifts. “When I started working for Mad, they assigned me TV satires and asked me to draw famous people,” he recalled. “So I just did it. It took me a long time to learn the skills I have, and it was time-consuming. With me, everything is trial and error.”

In 2014, Mr. Drucker was the first winner of the National Society of Cartoonists’ Medal of Honor for lifetime achievement

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