Tex Blaisdell

• Imagesize — 144 • Birth Name — Philip Eustice Blaisdell • Birthplace — Houston, Texas • Place of death — New York City • Nationality — American • Cartoonist — y • Ink — y • Notable Works — Little Orphan Annie • Born — 30 March 1920 • Died — 14 March 1999

Born in Houston, Texas, Blaisdell studied at New York's Art Students League.

After four years in the Air Force, Blaisdell worked for 13 years on strips by Al Capp, Stan Drake, Will Eisner, Irwin Hasen, John Cullen Murphy, Bud Sagendorf, Dick Wingert, and others. In the early 1960s, he helped Hal Foster on Prince Valiant, originally doing backgrounds, but eventually his contribution escalated to finishing everything but the faces while his assistant Lee Marrs inked the backgrounds. After Harold Gray's death in 1968, Blaisdell stepped in as the artist on Little Orphan Annie, which he continued until 1973, with assists from Paul Kirchner. For Leonard Starr, he handled the backgrounds for Mary Perkins, On Stage. At this time, Blaisdell worked at a studio on the fourth floor at 144 West 57th Street, overlooking dance studios and the rear of Carnegie Hall, a studio space he shared with artists Tom Sawyer and Carl Anderson, letterer Ben Oda, and scriptwriter John Augustin.

Blaisdell married Elaine French, and the couple lived in Flushing, New York, where he died in 1999. They had two children, Barbara F. and Bruce F. Blaisdell. Elaine Blaisdell died September 7, 2002, at the age of 81.