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Cartoonist Ted Key, creator of `Hazel' comic, dies at 95
AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/5/08 | Bob Lentz - ap

Posted on 05/05/2008 7:13:58 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

PHILADELPHIA - Cartoonist Ted Key, whose comic strip "Hazel" about a bossy maid went from magazine page to TV screen, has died. He was 95.

He died Saturday at his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Tredyffrin Township after a 1 1/2-year battle with cancer, his son Peter Key said Monday.

"Hazel" was a popular feature in The Saturday Evening Post from the time it debuted in 1943. It evolved into a prime-time series in 1961 that starred Shirley Booth and ran for four years on NBC and one year on CBS.

Key also created the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman for producer Jay Ward. The time-traveling dog/scientist and his boy made their TV debuts in 1959 in segments on the animated show "Rocky and His Friends."

He created cartoon panels called "Diz and Liz" for the Jack and Jill children's magazine and produced a number of other animal characters. He also wrote a play for radio, authored and illustrated books, and had freelance cartoons appear in Cosmopolitan, Better Homes and Gardens and Sports Illustrated.

Key literally dreamed up the concept of his wildly popular maid cartoon.

"Like a lot of creative people, he kept a notepad near his bedside," Peter Key said of his father. "He had a dream about a maid who took a message, but she screwed it up completely. When he looked at the idea the next day, he thought it was good and sold it to the Post."

Key randomly picked the name for the maid and was flattered that it later became synonymous with maids, according to his son.

Key acquired the rights to "Hazel" in 1969 and the comic was picked up for syndication by King Features. King still distributes the cartoon today, using those drawn by Key before he retired in 1993.

"Hazel" was so popular that when the first collection of cartoons was published in 1946, E.P. Dutton sold 500,000 copies. In all, Dutton published eight collections of "Hazel" cartoons.

Later, Key and a neighbor published biweekly motivational posters called "Positive Attitude Posters," and he created a series of motivational pamphlets for sales people.

Theodore Keyser was born in Fresno, Calif., on Aug. 25, 1912. His father, a Latvian immigrant who had changed his last name from Katseff to Keyser, changed his name to Key during World War I.

Key was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2006 and suffered a stroke in September.

He is survived by his second wife, Bonnie, three sons and three grandchildren. His first wife, Anne, died in 1984.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Music/Entertainment; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: cartoonist; comicstrip; hazel; obit; obituary; tedkey

In this undated photo provided by the Key family, Cartoonist Ted Key, whose comic strip 'Hazel' about a bossy maid went from magazine page to TV screen, has died. He was 95. Key died Saturday, May 3, 2008 at his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Tredyffrin Township after a 1 (AP Photo/Courtesy of Key Family)


1 posted on 05/05/2008 7:13:58 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

2 posted on 05/05/2008 7:21:08 PM PDT by urabus (Who is Bobby Buntrock?)
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To: NormsRevenge

. . . and one big collective . . . “Snort”!


3 posted on 05/05/2008 7:23:29 PM PDT by RushingWater (Pres. Bush honors Mexican sovereignty over our own - Pardon Ramos/Campeon/Hernandez)
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To: NormsRevenge

For years I never realized that the TV show and the panel cartoon were the same character. It seemed to be a totally different sense of humor.


4 posted on 05/05/2008 7:28:13 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: NormsRevenge
Key also created the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman for producer Jay Ward. The time-traveling dog/scientist and his boy made their TV debuts in 1959 in segments on the animated show "Rocky and His Friends."

WOW...Thanks and RIP Mr. Key.
5 posted on 05/05/2008 7:33:50 PM PDT by Tainan (Talk is cheap. Silence is golden. All I got is brass...lotsa brass.)
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To: NormsRevenge
Key also created the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman for producer Jay Ward. The time-traveling dog/scientist and his boy made their TV debuts in 1959 in segments on the animated show "Rocky and His Friends."

I loved Mr. Peabody and Sherman and the Way-Back Machine! Rocky & Bullwinkle - great cartoons! That was when cartoons were funny.

6 posted on 05/05/2008 7:35:22 PM PDT by FrdmLvr
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To: NormsRevenge

‘59 ‘61 - those were some great years.


7 posted on 05/05/2008 7:39:12 PM PDT by lajollasurfer
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To: lajollasurfer

As a kid Hazel was one of my fave shows . I had the hots for Whitney Blake , too ! ; )


8 posted on 05/05/2008 7:48:18 PM PDT by sushiman
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To: NormsRevenge
Later, Key and a neighbor published biweekly motivational posters called "Positive Attitude Posters,"

Oh, no. Not those. They're all over my company's offices.

9 posted on 05/05/2008 7:49:13 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: lajollasurfer

we didn’t have a TV until about 1960... and even then limited programming. I remember a lot of reruns of the shows tho.


10 posted on 05/05/2008 7:49:27 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE’s toll-free tip hotline—1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRget!)
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To: NormsRevenge

RIP.


11 posted on 05/05/2008 11:51:42 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)
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