Fisher, Bud

Bud Fisher, byname of Harry Conway Fisher, (born April 3, 1884/85, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died September 7, 1954, New York, New York), American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Mutt and Jeff.

After attending the University of Chicago, Fisher worked as a journalist in San Francisco, where for the San Francisco Chronicle he originated Mr. Mutt in 1907. Soon he added Jeff, the short one of the pair and usually the loser in their encounters. Originally a sports cartoonist, Fisher gave his strip a racetrack flavour, but it soon became a general comic. He moved to New York in 1909. During World War I he was an artist with the Canadian forces in London. A racehorse enthusiast, he at one time owned 50 Thoroughbreds. From 1932 on, the strip was drawn mostly (wholly after Fisher’s death) by ghost artist Al Smith (Albert Schmidt; 1902–86).