Sam Norkin's Album Cover Art

Sam Norkin (1917-2011), was a renowned caricaturist and illustrator who created over 4000 published drawings over a seven decade career, depicting theater performers, film and TV actors, opera singers, ballet dancers, and jazz, pop and classical musicians.

Sam Norkin self-portrait

Norkin was also the most well-known of the various imitators of the legendary theatrical caricaturist, the great Al Hirschfeld. The good natured Hirschfeld even laughingly refers to Norkin in the documentary "The Line King" as his imitator.

From 1940 to 1956, Norkin's Hirschfeld-esque illustrations were featured in the New York Herald Tribune and then from 1956-1982 his work was featured weekly in the New York Daily News. 

Sam Norkin was also hired to create many record covers over the years which is the work I most enjoy of his. So if you've always just thought of him as just a Hirschfeld imitator, check these album covers out. Several of these covers were clearly Hirschfeld-influenced, but most were drawn and designed in his own graphically distinctive style. 

                     Thanks to John Wendler for supplying some of the cover images.

        All about Sam Norkin's Jerry Lewis Mural at Brown's Hotel & Resort:
http://drewfriedman.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-jerry-lewis-mural-at-browns.html

Milton Berle, Card Member

Mort Drucker's Medal of Honor

The legendary artist Mort Drucker was the first recipient of the National Cartoonist Society's new Medal of Honor.

Mort received the medal at the NCS convention's banquet in Washington, DC in late May, 2015. I was delighted that my portrait of Mort, created for my recent book "Heroes of the Comics" was used for the poster to herald the event.

NCS president and MAD artist Tom Richmond blogs about Mort Drucker recieving the award here:

http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog

the poster created for the event (click to enlarge)

my friend, Simpsons director David Silverman caught
attempting to make off with the poster

Three legendary Morts meet at the banquet:
Mort Drucker, Mort Gerberg, Mort Walker

thanks to David Folkman who designed the
poster and took the photo of the 3 Morts

The Naked Bunch

The Naked Bunch was a booklet containing 23 full page B&W caricatures by illustrator Peter Green of then current show business, political and sports celebrities, all naked. The text is credited to Rochelle Larkin who most likely simply suggested the humorous and in some cases obvious mock genitlia props specific to each celebrity.

title page

 The book, published by Alexicon Corp in 1970 might have seemed like a clever idea at the time, and was beautifully realized by Peter Green, but it's been long out of print and for the most part long forgotten.

the book's cover

The very talented Peter Green, whose style here reminds me of a combination of David Levine and Bruce Stark, would create the art for the hugely popular "Politicards" two years later which I've blogged about here:

http://drewfriedman.blogspot.com/2012/06/1971-politicards.html

Some of Peter Green's terrific caricatures scanned from The Naked Bunch:

Dean Martin

Frank Sinatra

Sammy Davis Jr.

Tiny Tim

Lawrence Welk

John & Yoko

Shirley Temple

Hugh Hefner

Joe Namath

Mickey Mantle

Mayor Richard Daley

Jackie Onassis

Richard Nixon

All the images from the book combined (click to enlarge):

Thanks To John Wendler