Born
1916-02-02
in Greenwich, Fairfield CO, CT (USA)
[1] .
Lived
1930
in Greenwich, Fairfield CO, CT (USA)
[2] .
Died
Soc Sec nr 043-12-1843
1993-03-19
in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut CT USA
[3] .
Buried
in Putnam Cemetery, Connecticut, CO ( USA)
[4] .
Cartoonist. He is best remembered for co-creating (with writer John Saunders) Danny Raven,
the first black lead character in an American comic strip. A native of Greenwich, Connecticut,
McWilliams was a noted science fiction animator for comic books, newspapers, and other
publications. A graduate of the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, he started his
career as an artist for numerous pulp magazines before turning to working on comics in 1935.
His early work included illustrating for the Zane Grey Magazine, Crack Comics, DC Comics, and
the Military Comics. He also illustrated the daily comic strip, "Tim Tyler's Luck", and science
fiction titles including, "Captain Frank Hawk", "Flash Gordon", and "Space Cadets." At the
outbreak of World War II, McWilliams joined the United States Army, and fought in the D-Day
invasion of Normandy, France, where he was awarded the Bronze Star and the French Croix
de Guerre for his bravery. After the war ended, McWilliams returned to the United States and
to comics. His next works consisted of a series of war and crime stories. Over the next 20
years or so, McWilliams began working on a daily science fiction comic strip, "Twin Earths", a
sea adventure daily, "Davy Jones", and a spy story, "Dateline: Danger!" Later, he did work
for the comics, "The Wild Wild West", "Spider-Man", "Buck Rogers", "He-Man", and "Star Trek",
for Gold Key Comics. In the 1970s, he also got involved in doing advertising, although he
never stopped working on comics. In 1978, McWilliams was the recipient of the Best Story
Cartoonist Award from the National Cartoonists Society. He continued to work up until his
death in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1993. (bio by: K)
Family links:
Spouse:
Ruth Jensen McWilliams (1919 - 2009)*
*Calculated relationship
Biography
Born
1916-02-02
in Greenwich, Fairfield CO, CT (USA)
[1] .
Lived
1930
in Greenwich, Fairfield CO, CT (USA)
[2] .
Died
Soc Sec nr 043-12-1843
1993-03-19
in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut CT USA
[3] .
Sources
-
Soc Sec nr 043-12-1843
-
1930 US Federal Census
-
Soc Sec nr 043-12-1843 State file 06837
-
Find a grave