Roger Bollen

• Name — Roger Bollen • Born — 27 July 1941 • Birthplace — East Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. • Died — 3 October 2015 • Place of death — Mayfield Heights, Ohio, U.S. • Occupation — Author, illustrator • Genre — Juvenile fiction, comic strips • Notable Works — Funny Business Animal Crackers Catfish Alistair series P.J. Funnybunny Zenon film series Handy Manny • Spouse — Marilyn Sadler (Divorced) Audrey Curran • Children — Melissa Ellsworth

Born in East Cleveland, Ohio, he graduated from Shaw High School and Kent State University. During his final years, he lived in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. After suffering from a stroke and heart failure, he died in Hillcrest Hospital, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, on October 3, 2015. He was survived by his third wife Audrey Curran and his daughter Melissa Ellsworth.

From 1966 to 1980, Bollen drew a two-panel cartoon strip titled Funny Business (in 1975, it was changed into a one-panel cartoon). From 1967 to 1994, Bollen wrote and drew the comic strip Animal Crackers (adapted into a 1997 animated TV series produced by Canada-based CINAR [now WildBrain] and aired on Fox Family [now Freeform]), his most successful feature which was translated into several languages. Bollen additionally drew the strip Catfish from 1973 to 1986.

Bollen and Sadler together wrote Disney's CGI-animated children's TV series Handy Manny, where they also served as executive producers.