Mort Drucker Dies: Famous Fans Post Favorites From Mad Magazine TV & Movie Caricaturist

Click here to read the full article.

Mort Drucker, whose instantly recognizable TV and movie caricatures were a beloved 55-year Mad magazine staple that included parodies such as “Botch Casually and the Somedunce Kid,” “Rosemia’s Boo-Boo,” “The Odd Father,” “The Way We Bore,” “Star Blecch” and “How Lame Is Earl,” died Wednesday at his home in Woodbury, Long Island, N.Y. He was 91.

His death was announced by his friend, the cartoonist John Reiner, and the National Cartoonists Society. No cause of death was given, but COVID-19 is not suspected.

More from Deadline

• Notable Hollywood & Entertainment Industry Deaths In 2020: Photo Gallery

• Mad Magazine May Be Nearing Its End, As Writers, Editors Tweet Sad News

• Mayor Pete Buttigieg Doesn't Get Mad - He Gets Google To Understand Alfred E. Neuman Reference By Trump

“The incomparable Mort Drucker passed away last night,” the Society said in a tweeted statement. “The World has lost a not just an extraordinary talent but a shining example of kindness, humility and humor. He was recognized for his work with the NCS Special Features Award, Reuben Award and induction into the Hall of Fame.”

Drucker, whose illustrated targets included the famous of all sorts, from Hollywood to Washington D.C. and beyond, began cartooning in the late 1940s — at one point in the early ’50s joining the staff of what would become the DC Comics publishing company. He was hired at Mad in 1956, and by the early 1960s his movie and TV parodies — they’d eventually total well more than 200 — had become a regular feature of the iconic satirical periodical.

Clerks filmmaker Kevin Smith said in a tweet: “Never met Mort Drucker, but as a MAD fan throughout my childhood, his name loomed as large as any super star of the 70s. The man shaped my sense of humor and my worldview. Thank you, Mort, for the laughs and also for always giving me something to look forward to as a kid!”

His Star Wars parodies became classic sci-fi ephemera, earning high praise from George Lucas, who called Drucker “the Leonardo da Vinci of comic satire.” Lucas had been a fan even before Star Wars, though: The director had hired Drucker to illustrate the film poster for 1973’s American Graffiti. The film eventually got the Drucker treatment in Mad (see below).

Drucker also created album covers and various ads, but he’ll certainly be remembered by more than one generation of movie lovers, TV fanatics, comics aficionados and appreciators of the well-drawn zinger as one of Mad’s revered “usual gang of idiots.”

He is survived by wife Barbara, daughters Laurie Bachner and Melanie Amsterdam and three grandchildren. A memorial will be held sometime after the widespread social-distancing due to the coronavirus.

Following news of Drucker’s death, fans, including CNN’s anchor (and cartoonist) Jake Tapper, began tweeting their favorite Mad parodies. See a selection below.

Best of Deadline

• Coronavirus: U.S. Death Toll Nears 15,000 As Global Cases Approach 1.5 Million - Update

• Coronavirus: Movies That Have Halted Or Delayed Production Amid Outbreak

• Hong Kong Filmart Postponed Due To Coronavirus Fears; Event Moves Two Weeks Before Toronto

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.