The Illustrated Krazy
Chapter 18 - The Lot of Fun
As Herriman set up his drawing table at Hal Roach’s studio, many Krazy Kat comics seemed be taking place on a soundstage instead of the Coconino desertscape. As Herriman acknowledged Hollywood comedians such as Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin, several movies would include scenes with a Krazy Kat doll, including comedies featuring Harold Lloyd and Our Gang; the first appears to have been the 1919 Clara Kimball silent drama The Better Wife, shown here. This popular doll also showed up in the arms of a bathing beauty contestant, and the name “Krazy Kat” was used for a bohemian speakeasy in Washington, D.C. This gallery also features an ad and review of the Broadway show Artists and Models, which included a Herriman contribution. Also seen is a letter to Edmund Wilson in which Herriman reveals his sadness over his father’s death, and a page from Herriman’s father’s will, in which George Herriman signs over his share of the inheritance to his sister, Daisy. Herriman family graves in Calvary Cemetery are also shown here.
