Mad magazine artist Woodbridge dead
Longtime contributor known for detail
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George Woodbridge in a self-portrait.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- George Woodbridge, an illustrator for Mad magazine for nearly 50 years whose exquisitely detailed pen-and-ink drawings were featured in nearly every issue, has died. He was 73.
Woodbridge died of emphysema Tuesday, said his wife, Deborah Woodbridge.
"He had a tremendous eye for detail that showed up in his drawings," Mad Editor John Ficarra said Thursday. "We especially played to his history knowledge. When we gave him a piece on World War I, he would draw the exact gun and belt buckle they were using then."
Woodbridge's delicate cross-hatched illustrations were the result of careful research, particularly in rendering historical scenes. In fact, Woodbridge had a second career as an illustrator of military history books, including the three-volume "American Military Equipage, 1851-1872."
A native of New York, Woodbridge began as a freelance artist for Mad in 1957, five years after the satirical magazine's inception.
One of Woodbridge's most memorable illustrations was for the 1965 sports satire "43-Man Squamish," about a nonsensical game in which the equipment included shepherd's crooks and diving flippers.
"It's arguably our most requested piece to reprint," Ficarra said. "It struck a chord. Colleges all over formed teams and played this crazy game, with these ridiculous-looking helmets. George captured that lunacy."
He was a stickler for detail, authenticating even the drape of clothing through the study of historical documents.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
