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Biography
Virgil Partch (1916-1984) was an American cartoonist best known for his monogram ‘VIP,’ and his eccentric figures often drawn with distorted anatomical features. He was a freelance artist for the later portion of his career, commissioned to draw a variety of subjects including military life, relatable family-man, and illustrations for Playboy.
Born on October 17, 1916, Partch spent his early childhood in St. Paul Island, Alaska, due to his father’s career as a Navy petty officer. His father, Paul Chester Partch, was often stationed at naval radio stations all over Alaska, so Partch and his mother, Anna Pavaloff, traveled throughout the state with him.
In 1929, Partch’s father retired from the Navy and the family moved to Tucson, Arizona where Partch attended middle and high school. He was an athletic and artistic teenager, playing baseball and basketball for the Tucson High School team, as well as drawing cartoons for the school newspaper. Partch’s unmistakable ‘VIP’ monogram came to fruition during his high school years. The monogram was originally ‘VFP’ standing for Virgil Franklin Partch, but the ‘F’ looked like an ‘I’ to his classmates, so he decided ‘VIP’ was more fitting and attractive.
Partch attended the University of Arizona and studied fine arts for one year. He then attended the Chouinard Arts School in Los Angeles, which is renowned for training Disney animators. While in school, Partch decided to take the Disney studio drawing test, but unfortunately, he failed. Regardless, Partch managed to acquire the role of a messenger at Disney Studios and worked his way to becoming an assistant animator.
In 1938, while he was working at Disney and feeling confident in his finances, he met and married his wife, Helen Marie Aldridge. They met at a party in Los Angeles, and were together for forty-six years, but separated a few times during their marriage. Together they had three children named Peter, Anna, and Nicholas.
In 1941, Partch joined the Disney job strike due to the increasingly low wages and the inability to unionize. Soon after, he was fired and became a freelance cartoonist for magazines. Partch’s first commission and sale was with Collier’s in January of 1942. This sale ultimately led to his success, and he started to gain commissions from The New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post, True, This Week, and Playboy.
Amidst the start of a freelance career, Partch briefly worked for Walter Lantz Productions. He left shortly after disagreements over the depiction of the character he was illustrating, Woody Woodpecker. On September 23, 1944, Partch enlisted in the army towards the end of World War II and was stationed at Fort Ord Monterey Bay, CA. There he drew cartoons for the army base newspaper, Panorama. Partch also continued his lucrative relationship with Collier’s and was commissioned to draw many cartoons of military life.
In 1945, while Partch was still serving in the army, Collier’s published a book of a collection of his cartoons called It’s Hot in Here. Partch’s work consisted of daily comical happenings, such as a big wave splashing a man in the bath or a father tripping on his child’s toys in the yard. The book also contained satirical depictions of military life, for example, a military officer using a hammer and nail to put on his badges. Partch’s figures often had an excess of fingers, and he claims this is because he drew so many three-fingered characters at Disney that he wanted to draw many fingers for a change.
From the 1950s-80s, Partch became a full-time freelance cartoonist and book illustrator. He published nineteen cartoon books and illustrated twelve others during this time. He also became one of the founders of the Famous Artists School. In the early 1950s, he moved to Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California, where he built a home overlooking the ocean near Corona Del Mar. Here, he started to draw sexual content, and even started a series called “VIP on Sex.” In 1953, one of these drawings was featured on the cover of the first edition of Playboy next to a photograph of Marilyn Monroe. From there, he gained a great amount of publicity and would meet his other famous cartoonist friends at the Ivy Restaurant in Laguna Beach, where they would sign autographs.
In the 1960s, he illustrated Big George, a comic distributed by News America Syndicate. Big George was about a middle-aged family man, who dealt with amusing household occurrences. Big George started as a single-frame cartoon and then became a comic strip for Sunday distribution. It was published from the 1960s through the 1980s.
In 1971, Partch’s eyesight became poor, and he began to use an engraver’s magnifying glass to make his illustrations. Regardless, in 1977, he also became known for his syndicated comic strip, Captain’s Gig.
In 1984, his wife was driving on Interstate Five North Los Angeles, with Partch in the passenger seat. She collided with a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck traveling fifty miles per hour. This unfortunate accident led to both of their deaths, with Partch dying at 67 years old.
Partch’s comic strips, especially Big George, carried on for years after his death due to his impressive work ethic. He created enough content to be published up until the early 2000s. Partch’s legacy lives with us today through his admired sense of humor.
“1944 It’s Hot in Here Virgil Partch Collier’s Cartoons Book.” Chairish. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://www.chairish.com/product/2993634/1944-its-hot-in-here-virgil-partch-colliers-cartoons-book.
AP. “Virgil F. Partch Is Dead at 67; Cartoonist Drew ‘Big George.’” The New York Times, August 12, 1984. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/12/obituaries/virgil-f-partch-is-dead-at-67-cartoonist-drew-big-george.html.
“Camera-Ready Comic Strip, Entitled ‘Big George!’” National Museum of American History. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_799614.
Harvey, R.C. “Making the World Safe For Insanity.” The Comics Journal, March 28, 2013. https://www.tcj.com/making-the-world-safe-for-insanity/#:~:text=Even%20by%20May%201938%2C%20however,a%20party%20a%20month%20before.
Lamb, Joanna. “Guide to the Virgil Partch Cartoons and Artwork MS.M.002.” Online Archive of California , 2013. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt7580397m/entire_text/.
McLellan, Dennis. “Cartoonist Leaves a Legacy of ‘Big George.’” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1986. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-22-vw-20831-story.html.
Uenuma , Francine. “Disney Animators 1941 Strike, after ‘Snow White,’ Changed Hollywood - The Washington Post.” The Washington Post, September 4, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/09/04/disney-animators-strike-1941-hollywood-snow-white/.
“Virgil ‘VIP’ Partch.” THS Badger Foundation. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://www.badgerfoundation.org/virgil-vip-partch/.
Essay by Halle Davies. A curatorial intern at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Davies is currently studying art history at Regent’s University in London, England. She also participated in the Gap Year Program at London’s Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
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