Walter Berndt


Walter Berndt was a cartoonist known for his comic strip, Smitty, which he drew for 50 years.

Biography

Bernt's job as an office boy at the New York Journal, which he took on after dropping out of high school in Brooklyn, put him in contact with leading cartoonists, as he recalled,

Fishing for ideas

Ed Black wrote about the method E. C. Segar and Berndt used to generate cartoon ideas:
Then the Fun Began was appearing as early as March 3, 1919. When Berndt left that strip on October 13, 1921, it was taken over by Fred Faber, who continued it until 1928.

Origins of ''Smitty''

Berndt's first strip, That's Different, drawn for the Bell Syndicate, lasted less than a year. In 1922, he created Smitty, which he continued until 1973, working with his assistant Charles Mueller. Yet it did not begin without a struggle, as cartoonist Mike Lynch described in a 2005 lecture:
He also produced the comic strip Herby, a topper strip of Smitty, from 1938 through 1960.
In 1937, Berndt moved to Port Jefferson, Long Island, where he lived until his death at age 79. He died on Monday, August 15, 1979, at Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson,

Awards

Berndt won the Reuben Award for 1969 for Smitty.

Legacy: The Berndt Toast Gang

The Berndt Toast Gang, named in honor of Walter Berndt, is a group of Long Island cartoonists who meet on the last Thursday of each month, as explained by cartoonist Lee Ames: