WILLIAM JUHRE

Obscure Comic Artists No. 1

WILLIAM JUHRÉ

William H. Juhré nasce a De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin, il 21 febbraio 1903 da William M. Juhré e Alice Wahner, entrambi emigrati dalla Germania. Ha una sorella maggiore, Lillian.

Purtroppo il padre, di professione falegname, scompare a soli 27 anni il 6 novembre 1904, quando William non ha ancora compiuto due anni.

È ancora un adolescente quando si arruola nell’esercito USA e presta servizio come soldato semplice durante la Prima Guerra Mondiale.

Frequenta la Audobon Art School e apparentemente inizia la sua carriera come illustratore e cartoonist editoriale e politico presso il Milwaukee Journal.

Trasferitosi a Lake, nell’Illinois, frequenta I corsi d’arte del Chicago Art Institute e trova impiego presso la Lord and Thomas Agency a Chicago.

Alla fine degli anni Venti è nello staff artistico del Palenske-Young Studio a Chicago, insieme con Hal Foster, Paul Proehl e Charles F. Armstrong, e produce soprattutto illustrazioni pubblicitarie. È possibile che Juhré aiuti Foster per la tavola settimanale di Tarzan of the Apes disegnandone alcuni sfondi nei primi anni Trenta.

Juhré sposa Grace Finch (1901-1981), e il loro primo figlio, William Eric, nasce nel 1925, seguìto dalle figlie Jana (1927), Finch (1931) e Sara Lin (1936). Nel 1930 i Juhré risiedono a Hinsdale, DuPage County, Illinois. Nel 1940, si sono trasferiti al 418 di Oregon Avenue a West Dundee, Kane County, Illinois.

Probabilmente Juhré lavora ancora per Palenske-Young quando viene incaricato di disegnare la striscia quotidiana di Tarzan, dopo che Rex Maxon se ne andato in seguito a un fallito tentativo di ottenere un aumento. Su sceneggiature di Don Garden, Juhré disegna e firma la strip dal giugno 1936 al gennaio 1938 , allorché Maxon tornerà ad occuparsene.

Nel 1939-40 Juhré esegue alcune copertine e illustration interne per pulp magazines dell’editrice Ziff-Davis quali Amazing Stories e South Sea Stories.

Dal 1940 al 1953 lavora principalmente per la John F. Dille Company (poi nota come National Newspaper Syndicate), contribuendo a vari fumetti per I quotidiani USA quali Speed Spaulding, Draftie, Lem and Oinie e The Orbits (Juhré è un appassionato radioamatore, e spesso disegna l’apparecchio nella strip. Usa la sua stessa sigla di identificazione, W9IMQ, per Mr. Orbit). Secondo alcune fonti assiste anche Ken Ernst per Mary Worth nei primi anni Quaranta. Inoltre realizza altre illustrazioni per Ziff-Davis su Fantastic Stories e Mammoth Western nel 1946-48, e insegna presso la American Academy of Art.

Tornato a De Pere nei primi anni Cinquanta, Juhré trascorre gli ultimi venti anni della sua vita nella casa sulla panoramica Scray’s Hill, dedicandosi alla pittura di ritratti e paesaggi, all’insegnamento in un corso di acquerello, e all’attività di curatore del Neville Public Museum di Green Bay. Di tanto in tanto disegna ancora fumetti (alla fine degli anni Cinquanta è assistente per la tavola settimanale di Buck Rogers e per la striscia quotidiana Flash Gordon di Dan Barry), ed esegue illustrazioni per riviste (quali The Golden Magazine, nel 1966-67).

Juhré scompare il 30 gennaio 1976. È sepolto presso il Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery di King, Waupaca County, Illinois.

William H. Juhré was born in De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin, on February 21, 1903 to German immigrants William M. Juhré and Alice Wahner. He had an elder sister, Lillian.

Unfortunately his father, a carpenter by trade, died when he was only 27 on November 6, 1904. William was not yet two years old by then.

He was still a teenager when he enrolled in the US Army, serving as a private in World War I.

He attended the Audobon Art School and apparently started his career as an illustrator, editorial and political cartoonist for the Milwaukee Journal.

Having moved to Lake, Illinois, he attended art classes at the Chicago Art Institute and found employment at the Lord and Thomas Agency in Chicago.

As of the late twenties he was on staff at the Palenske-Young Studio in Chicago, alongside Hal Foster, Paul Proehl, and Charles F. Armstrong, producing mainly advertising illustrations. It is possible that Juhré helped Foster on the Tarzan of the Apes Sunday page doing backgrounds in the early 1930s.

Juhré married the former Grace Finch (1901-1981), and son William Eric was born in 1925, followed by daughters Zana (1927), Finch (1931), and Sara Lin (1936). By 1930 the Juhrés were residing in Hinsdale, DuPage County, Illinois. By 1940, they had moved to 418 Oregon Avenue in Dundee, Kane County, Illinois.

Juhré was probably still working at Palenske-Young when he was asked to draw the Tarzan daily strip, after Rex Maxon had walked off the feature after an unsuccessful attempt to get a raise. Juhré drew and signed the strip on scripts by Don Garden from June 1936 until January 1938, at which time Maxon was reinstated as the regular artist.

During 1939-40 Juhré did some covers and interior illustrations for such pulp magazines as Amazing Stories and South Sea Stories, published by Ziff-Davis.

From 1940-53 he was associated with the John F. Dille Company (later known as National Newspaper Syndicate), working on various newspaper comic strips which included Speed Spaulding, Draftie, Lem and Oinie, and The Orbits. (Juhré was a ham-radio enthusiast, and often featured it in the strip. He used his own call sign, W9IMQ as the call sign of Mr. Orbit.) He is also reported to have assisted on Mary Worth (with Ken Ernst) in the early forties. He also did more pulp illustrations for Ziff-Davis’ Fantastic Stories and Mammoth Western from 1946-48, and was an instructor at the American Academy of Art.

Having moved back to De Pere in the early fifties, Juhré spent the last twenty years of his life in semi-retirement at his home on scenic Scray’s Hill. He devoted himself to portrait and landscape painting, taught a coveted watercolor class, and was the curator of art at Neville Public Museum in Green Bay. Time and again, he would still draw some comic strips (in the late fifties he assisted on the Buck Rogers Sunday page and on Dan Barry’s Flash Gordon daily), and do magazine illustrations (for Western Publishing’s The Golden Magazine, in 1966-67).

Juhré passed away on January 30, 1976. He is buried at the Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in King, Waupaca County, Illinois.

FUMETTOGRAFIA E BIBLIOGRAFIA / COMICOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

FUMETTI PER QUOTIDIANI / NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS

Editore/Publisher: JOHN F. DILLE CO./NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SYNDICATE

Buck Rogers – Tavole settimanali / Sunday page Assistente / Assistant 1957-58.

Draftie – Strisce quotidiane e tavole settimanali / Daily strip and Sunday page Jan 27 1941- -Sept 1944.

Lem and Oinie – Strisce quotidiane e tavole settimanali / Daily strip and Sunday page Oct 1 1944-May 5 1946.

The Orbit Family/The Orbits – Strisce quotidiane e tavole settimanali  / Daily strip and Sunday page 1946-May 31 1953.

Speed Spaulding – Strisce quotidiane / Daily strip Assistente / Assistant c. 1941.

Speed Spaulding – Tavole settimanali / Sunday page Assistente / Assistant c. 1941.

Editore/Publisher: KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC.

Flash Gordon – Strisce quotidiane / Daily strip Matite / Pencils June 15-20 1959.

Editore/Publisher: PUBLISHERS SYNDICATE, INC.

Mary Worth – Strisce quotidiane e tavole settimanali  / Daily strip and Sunday page Assistente / Assistant c. 1942.

Editore/Publisher: EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, INC./UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

Tarzan of the Apes – Tavole settimanali / Sunday page Assistente sfondi / Assistant backgrounds c. 1932.

Tarzan of the Apes – Strisce quotidiane / Daily strip June 22 1936-Jan 15 1938 [S1-V84].

Tarzan and the Mayan Goddess – June 22 1936-Dec 12 1936 [S1-S150].

Tarzan’s Quest – Dec 14 1936-June 19 1937 [T1-T162].

Tarzan the Magnificent – June 21 1937-Oct 9 1937 [U1-U96].

Tarzan Under Fire – Oct 11 1937-Jan 15 1938 [V1-V84].

ILLUSTRAZIONI PER RIVISTE / MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATIONS

Editore/Publisher: WESTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY

The Golden Magazine – Illustrazioni / Illustrations 02/1966, 04/1966, 05/1966, 03/1967.

Editore/Publisher: ZIFF-DAVIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

Amazing Stories – Retrocopertina / Back Cover art 05/1939; Copertina / Cover art 06/1939.

Fantastic Stories – Illustrazioni / Illustrations 02/1946.

Mammoth Western – Illustrazioni / Illustrations 09/1948.

South Sea Stories – Copertina / Cover art 06/1940 [con / with Robert Fuqua].

ILLUSTRAZIONI PER LIBRI / BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS

Editore/Publisher: WHITMAN/WESTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY

The Big Little Book – The Lone Ranger and the Vanishing Herd #1196 (1936) Illustrazioni / Illustrations [Testo di / Written by Gaylord DuBois aka Buck Wilson].