We'll miss Bil Keane

The Family Circus lost its ringleader, and the Sunday Funnies lost its heart.

Since 1960, The Family Circus has brought sweet family moments and childlike humor to 1,500 newspapers around the world.  The strip, featuring the antics of Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and little PJ celebrated the closeness of the family - even when that closeness led to chaos.

Bil Keane was a self-taught artist, learning to draw by studying the cartoons in the New Yorker in the 1930s.  He began drawing his own cartoons while still in high school, and had his own syndicated strip, Channel Chuckles, by 1954.

Keane's family were more than just inspiration for his strips - they shared his love of drawing.  His son Glen became an animator, and his youngest son Jeff began working with with him on The Family Circus in 1981.  Jeff will continue the strip.

We'll miss him.