Biography
Crockett Johnson (1906 – 1975) was an American cartoonist, children’s book author/illustrator, abstract painter, inventor, and sailing enthusiast. Born David Johnson Leisk, he believed his last name was too difficult to pronounce, and having an affinity for keeping things simple, he decided to use his childhood nickname, Crockett, and middle name to create his pen name, Crockett Johnson. He is best known for his syndicated cartoon series, Barnaby, and for his series of children’s books beginning with, and featuring, the beloved Harold and the Purple Crayon.
While born in New York City, Johnson grew up in Queens where he attended Newtown High School in Elmhurst and grew to love sailing in Long Island Sound. He received his formal art education at Cooper Union (1924) and at New York University (1925). Johnson began his career as a cartoonist contributor and art editor for several McGraw-Hill trade publications. 1 During the Great Depression, Johnson’s left-wing politics drew him to a radical leftist magazine, New Masses, where he worked as a political cartoonist from 1934 to 1940. His weekly cartoon strip “The Little Man with the Eyes,” which he drew for Collier’s magazine from 1940 to 1943, earned him popular acclaim. 2
In 1939 Johnson met children’s book author, Ruth Krauss. The couple married a year later and moved to Connecticut, first to Darien, then to Rowayton, on Long Island Sound, where Johnson could indulge in his love of sailing. Johnson illustrated some of his wife’s books, including The Carrot Seed (1945), How to Make an Earthquake (1954), and The Happy Egg (1967). 3 While in Rowayton, the Johnsons were visited by Where the Wild Things Are author, Maurice Sendak, who illustrated eight of Ruth Krauss’s books. Sendak spent many weekends at the Johnson’s home, learning about, and collaborating on, children’s literature. 4 Sendak has often credited the Johnsons for shaping him into the artist he became.
In 1942 Johnson created his acclaimed Barnaby comic strip for the left-wing daily newspaper, PM. Barnaby featured a five-year-old boy who wishes for a fairy godmother and instead gets a bumbling little man with pink wings and rumpled fedora, who claims he is Mr. O’Malley, his fairy godfather. Mr. O’Malley proceeds to get Barnaby into all sorts of adventures/troubles with his enchanted cigar. The comic strip was eventually syndicated in 52 newspapers throughout the United States, with a combined circulation of nearly 5,600,000. Johnson wrote Barnaby until 1946 when he handed it over to Jack Morley and Ted Ferro, who were both Johnson’s neighbors in Connecticut. He did, however, return to write and draw Barnaby’s final episode in February 1952.
Phenomenally popular, Barnaby was later adapted for theater, radio, and television. 5 The original PM strips were republished in several volumes during the 1980s.
After Barnaby, Johnson turned his attention to writing and illustrating children’s books, starting with Who’s Upside Down? (I952). Johnson went on to produce over 20 books for children with a style that was clear, minimalist, and very effective. His most famous children’s books, however, were the series beginning with Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955). In this series, Harold uses his purple crayon to draw his universe, creating and escaping from adventures. Both Barnaby and Harold were portrayed with round, bald heads (with only a few stray hairs). Johnson was bald, too, and he drew himself in a 1941 self-portrait with the same style head and hair as his characters. 6 While immersed in creating children’s literature, Johnson, who was inquisitive and multi-talented, somehow found the time to file a patent in 1955 for a four-way adjustable mattress.
Around 1965, seeming to need another new adventure himself, Johnson turned to creating paintings that explored geometric shapes. He painted about 100 large, vivid canvases of geometric shapes derived from famous mathematical theorems, both ancient and modern. These paintings were exhibited at the Glezer Gallery in New York City in 1967; the Museum of Art, Science and Industry in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1970; the IBM Gallery in Yorktown Heights, New York in 1975; and the Smithsonian’s Museum of History and Technology in Washington, DC in 1980. Johnson remained curious and active to the end of his life. 7 He died of lung cancer in 1975 when he was 68.
Footnotes:
1. The Wikipedia website entry “Crockett Johnson.” Accessed February 27, 2023. Last edited December 21, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crockett_Johnson
2. The Encyclopedia website entry, “Johnson, Crockett 1906-1975.” 2019. Accessed February 27, 2023. https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/academic-and-educational-journals/johnson-crockett-1906-1975
3. Ibid.
4. Alexie Basil, Amber Green, and Alana Pedalino. “Crockett Johnson’s Colorful Life, Meet the Creator of Harold and the Purple Crayon.” Judy Newman at Scholastic blog, August 2018, Accessed February 27, 2023. http://www.judynewmanatscholastic.com/blog/2018/08/crockett_johnson/
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Nel, Philip. “Crockett Johnson: Biography, Harold, Barnaby, and Dave: A Biography of Crockett Johnson.” Accessed February 27, 2023. https://philnel.com/crockett-johnson/crockett-johnson-biography/
This essay was written by Phyllis Geraghty, a writer with professional experience in the public relations, education, health, and non-profit sectors.
Illustrations by Crockett Johnson
Additional Resources
Bibliography
Alexie Basil, Amber Green, and Alana Pedalino. “Crockett Johnson’s Colorful Life, Meet the Creator of Harold and the Purple Crayon.” Judy Newman at Scholastic blog, August 2018, Accessed February 27, 2023. http://www.judynewmanatscholastic.com/blog/2018/08/crockett_johnson/
The Encyclopedia website entry, “Johnson, Crockett 1906-1975.” 2019. Accessed February 27, 2023. https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/academic-and-educational-journals/johnson-crockett-1906-1975
Nel, Philip. “Crockett Johnson: Biography, Harold, Barnaby, and Dave: A Biography of Crockett Johnson.” Accessed February 27, 2023. https://philnel.com/crockett-johnson/crockett-johnson-biography/
The Wikipedia website entry “Crockett Johnson.” Accessed February 27, 2023. Last edited December 21, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crockett_Johnson
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