Garry Trudeau
Garry Trudeau
Political cartoonist; creator of Doonesbury
Garry Trudeau is a political cartoonist best known for the Doonesbury comic strip. He was born and raised in New York and attended Yale University, where he received his B.A. and an M.F.A. in graphic design.
Doonesbury was launched in 1970, and now appears in nearly 1,400 daily and Sunday newspaper clients in the U.S. and abroad. Garry's work has been collected in 60 hardcover, trade paperback and mass-market editions, which have cumulatively sold over 7 million copies worldwide. In 1975, he became the first comic strip artist ever to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1989, 2004 and 2005.
Working with John and Faith Hubley, Garry wrote and co-directed the animated film, A Doonesbury Special, for NBC-TV in 1977. The film was nominated for an Academy Award and received the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Collaborating with composer Elizabeth Swados in 1983, he wrote the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical, Doonesbury, for which he was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards. A cast album of the show, recorded for MCA, received a Grammy nomination.
In 1988, he wrote and co-produced, along with director Robert Altman, HBO's critically acclaimed Tanner '88, a satiric look at that year's presidential election campaign. The show won several awards both in the U.S. and abroad, including the gold medal for Best Television Series at the Cannes Television Festival, and Best Imported Program from the British Broadcasting Press Guild. Tanner '88 also earned an Emmy - as well as four ACE award nominations.
Garry has contributed articles to publications such as Harper's, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, The New Yorker, New York, and The Washington Post. For five years he was an occasional columnist for The New York Times op-ed page, and was later a contributing essayist for Time magazine. He has received honorary degrees from Yale, Colgate, Williams, Duke and 25 other universities and colleges, and has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In recognition of his work on wounded warriors, he has been presented with the Commander's Award for Public Service by the Department of Army, the Commander's Award from Disabled American Veterans, the President's Award for Excellence in the Arts from Vietnam Veterans of America, the Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and a special citation from the Vet Centers.
Visit Doonesbury Town Hall @Slate.