Alfred Gerald Caplin ( September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979 ), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li ' l Abner.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut of Russian Jewish heritage, Capp was the eldest child of Otto Philip and Matilda ( Davidson ) Caplin.

This childhood tragedy likely helped shape Capp ’ s cynical worldview, which, funny as it was, was certainly darker and more sardonic than that of the average newspaper cartoonist.

" The secret of how to live without resentment or embarrassment in a world in which I was different from everyone else ," Capp philosophically wrote ( in Life magazine on May 23, 1960 ), " was to be indifferent to that difference.

Attending three of them in rapid succession, the impoverished Capp was thrown out of each for nonpayment of tuition — the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Designers Art School in Boston — the latter before launching his amazing career.

" I heard that Bud Fisher ( creator of Mutt and Jeff ) got $ 3, 000 a week and was constantly marrying French countesses ," Capp said.

By March 1932, Capp was drawing Colonel Gilfeather, a single-panel, AP-owned property created in 1930 by Dick Dorgan.

Also during this period, Capp was working at night on samples for the strip that would eventually become Li ' l Abner.

" Yokum " was a combination of yokel and hokum, although Capp established a deeper meaning for the name during a series of visits around 1965 – 1970 with comics historians George E. Turner and Michael H. Price.

“ It ’ s phonetic Hebrew — that ’ s what it is, all right — and that ’ s what I was getting at with the name Yokum, more so than any attempt to sound hickish ," said Capp.

" Sinatra was the first great public figure I ever wrote about ," Capp once said.

On the other hand Liberace was " cut to the quick " over Loverboynik, according to Capp, and even threatened legal action — as would Joan Baez later, over " Joanie Phoanie " in 1967.

Capp was just as likely to parody himself ; his self-caricature made frequent, tongue-in-cheek appearances in Li ' l Abner.

Capp was also involved with the Sister Kenny Foundation, which pioneered new treatments for polio in the 1940s.

In 1948, Capp reached a creative peak with the introduction of the Shmoos, lovable and innocent fantasy creatures who reproduced at amazing speed and brought so many benefits that, ironically, the world economy was endangered.

( When the award name was changed in 1954, Capp also retroactively received a Reuben statuette.

According to Tom Roberts, author of Alex Raymond: His Life and Art ( 2007 ), Capp delivered a stirring speech that was instrumental in changing those rules.

" The article recounted Capp's days working for an unnamed " benefactor " with a miserly, swinish personality, who Capp claimed was a never-ending source of inspiration when it came time to create a new unregenerate villain for his comic strip.

Capp was able to refute the accusation by simply showing the original artwork.

In 1954, when Capp was applying for a Boston television license, the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) received an anonymous packet of pornographic Li ' l Abner drawings.

Allen Saunders, the creator of the Mary Worth strip, returned Capp's fire with the introduction of the character " Hal Rapp ," a foul-tempered, ill-mannered, and ( ironically ) inebriated cartoonist, ( Capp was a teetotaler ).

Later, it was revealed to be a collaborative hoax that Capp and his longtime pal Saunders had cooked up together.

The Capp-Saunders " feud " fooled both editors and readers, generated plenty of free publicity for both strips — and Capp and Saunders had a good laugh when all was revealed.

!," a self-portrait by Al Capp, excerpted from theApril 16 – 17, 1951 Li ' l Abner strips.

Capp turned that world upside-down by routinely injecting politics and social commentary into Li ' l Abner.

Al Capp drew his own autobiography, the 34-page Al Capp by Li ' l Abner ( 1946 ), distributed to returning WWII amputee veterans.

In 1946 Capp created a special full-color comic book, Al Capp by Li ' l Abner, to be distributed by the Red Cross to encourage the thousands of amputee veterans returning from the war.

1956 saw the debut of the Bald Iggle, considered by some Abner enthusiasts to be the creative high point of the strip, as well as Mammy's revelatory encounter with the " Square Eyes " Family — Capp ’ s thinly-veiled appeal for racial tolerance.

" ( In fact, Fisher's brutish hillbilly character — Big Leviticus, created by Capp in Fisher's absence — bore little resemblance to Li ' l Abner.

Capp, of course, got ticked off by this, as you can imagine!

A 1950 cover story in Time even included photos of two of his employees, whose roles in the production were detailed by Capp.

Cartoonist Mell Lazarus, creator of Miss Peach and Momma, wrote a comic novel in 1963 titled The Boss Is Crazy, Too which was partly inspired by his apprenticeship days working with Capp and his brother Elliot at Toby.

In 1959, Capp recorded and released an album for Folkways Records ( now owned by the Smithsonian ) on which he identified and described " The Mechanics of the Comic Strip.

Fascinated by Frazetta's abilities, Capp initially gave him a free hand in an extended daily sequence ( about a biker named " Frankie ," a caricature of Frazetta ) to experiment with the basic look of the strip by adding a bit more realism and detail ( particularly to the inking ).

Capp was the Playboy interview subject in December 1965, in a conversation conducted by Alvin Toffler.

Capp, who by all accounts was contrary and contentious by nature, was a maverick politically.

" The cover features a cartoon drawing by Capp of wildly dressed, angry hippies carrying protest signs with slogans like " End Capp Brutality ," " Abner and Daisy Mae Smoke Pot ," " Capp Is Over 40, 50 — all crossed out the Hill!

Besides Dick Tracy, Capp parodied many other comic strips in Li ' l Abner — including Steve Canyon, Superman ( at least twice ; first as " Jack Jawbreaker " in 1947, and again in 1966 as " Chickensouperman "), Mary Worth, Peanuts, Rex Morgan, M. D., Little Annie Rooney and Little Orphan Annie ( in which Punjab became " Punjbag ," an oleaginous slob ).

During the Soviet Union's blockade of West Berlin in 1948, the commanders of the Berlin airlift had cabled Capp, requesting inflatable shmoos as part of " Operation: Little Vittles.

The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie, introduction by Al Capp ( 1970 ) Arlington House

More members joined by mid-May 1946, including Harold Gray ( Little Orphan Annie ) and the Society ’ s first animator, Paul Terry, followed in the summer by letterer Frank Engli, Bela Zaboly ( Popeye ), Al Capp ( Li ’ l Abner ) and Ray Bailey ( Bruce Gentry ).

Little Orphan Annie lent itself easily to parody, which was taken up by both Walt Kelly in Pogo ( as " Little Arf ' n Nonnie " and later " Lulu Arfin ' Nanny ") and by Al Capp in Li ' l Abner, where Punjab became Punjbag, an oleaginous slob.

* You Little Beauty, Andy Capp ( 1982 ) Castle

The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie, introduction by Al Capp ( 1970 ) Arlington House

The commanders of the Berlin airlift had cabled Capp, requesting the inflatable shmoos as part of Operation: Little Vittles.

Among Fleener's influences are ancient Egyptian art and the works of Chester Gould ( Dick Tracy ), Otto Soglow ( The Little King ) and Al Capp ( Li ' l Abner ).