Photo by David Folkman.
I attended a lovely dinner Sunday night. Each year, the Comic Art Professional Society based in Los Angeles honors a "great" in the field of comics or cartoons and this time, the honoree was Russ Heath. Popular choice. Russ began drawing comics in 1947 and is still at it, still proving he's one of the true craftsmen of the field. Most folks probably hear his name and think of his long stint drawing war comics for DC, especially Sgt. Rock and the Haunted Tank feature in G.I. Combat, but he's worked for everyone on anything, including much art for National Lampoon and on the Little Annie Fanny strip in Playboy.
All of this was recounted by a bevy of speakers, that bevy consisting of Paul Power, Michael Gross, William Stout, Scott Shaw! and myself. The topics ranged from analysis of his work to sheer awe at the neat stunt he managed to pull off while working on Little Annie Fanny. One time when deadlines were nearing meltdown, Harvey Kurtzman called Heath in to assist in a marathon work session at the Playboy Mansion in Chicago. Russ flew in and was given a room there, and spent many days aiding Kurtzman and artist Will Elder in getting one installment done of the strip. When it was completed, Kurtzman and Elder left…but Heath just stayed. And stayed. And stayed some more.
He had a free room as well as free meals whenever he wanted them from Hef's 24-hour kitchen. He also had access to whatever young ladies were lounging about…so he thought, "Why leave?" He decided to live there until someone told him to get out…and for months, no one did. Everyone just kind of assumed he belonged there. It took quite a while before someone realized he didn't and threw him and his drawing table out.
As I related in my speech, when I was 14 years old, I used to take comic books over to my friend Randy Jacobs' house. His parents didn't allow him to spend money on comics but it was okay for him to read mine. And while he read mine, I read from his secret (his parents didn't know about it) stash of Playboy magazines. Well, maybe "read" is the wrong word here. In truth, I mainly looked at the pictures. If you've ever been a 14 year old boy, you know that few things can look as wonderful as Miss October when you're that age.
One day, Randy and I made an incredible discovery. One of the best artists in the DC war comics I brought over was this person named Russ Heath. And on the Little Annie Fanny strips in Playboy, the credits said that one of the artists was Russ Heath. We were shocked because we assumed that if you drew for Comics Code-approved comic books, you were barred from drawing naked women anywhere. I think Randy even suggested, "Maybe it's a different Russ Heath" but I knew. The tanks were drawn with the same meticulous care as the breasts. And later, when I got to know Russ, I realized they were drawn with the same painstaking research. I also found out something else amazing about him.
In one issue of Playboy that Randy had, there was a pictorial on the Playboy Mansion, which was then in Chicago. There was a photo of one of Hef's movie screenings in his private screening room. It was furnished with two-person love seats that faced the screen and in each love seat, there was some male crony of Hef's with his arm around his gorgeous date. Right in the middle of the photo was a handsome guy to be envied, cuddling up with Miss Whatever Month She Was. I had no idea who that man was or what he did but I wanted to be him.
Flash forward to years later and, yes, I know you can see the payoff on this from a block away. Russ and I are both working at Hanna-Barbera and one day, we're out to lunch and he's telling Tales From the Mansion. He happens to tell about one time they dragged him away from his drawing board to take part in a photoshoot in Hef's screening room. I instantly thought of that cool guy in the love seat and when I got home, I hauled out that issue. (Yes, I have a copy. I have every issue of Playboy, in large part because I always try to have every issue of everything. Keeping this set up is easy because years ago when I did a show with Hefner, I told him I had every issue to date and he said, "Well, let's keep your collection going" and he gifted me with a lifetime subscription. Every time I see him bragging about having sex with his six current girl friends, I hope he meant my lifetime and not his.)
Well, anyway, you see where this is going. The guy in the photo? Russ. Before that revelation, I only admired him as a great artist.
It was, as I said, a lovely dinner. CAPS President Pat McGreal presided, Bongo Comics editor Bill Morrison was the M.C., and Sergio Aragonés presented Russ with the CAPS achievement trophy, which is called The Sergio. Looks just like him, too.
The whole event took place at the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant which adjoins Van Nuys Airport out in the valley. It seemed apropos to honor a guy who's drawn so many war comics at a venue themed like a U.S.O. hall circa World War II. And there was fitting entertainment. A George C. Scott/General Patton lookalike arrived in uniform and delivered a speech that dressed Russ up and down. He also slapped Pat McGreal. And then there were three very talented ladies called The Lindy Sisters. They are young and lovely and they sing and move an awful lot like The Andrews Sisters, warbling well-known songs of the World War II era. The crowd loved them…and I was told, by the way, that they really are sisters named Lindy.
Here's a link to their website and here's a video clip of them performing at some event with Dean Mora's splendid big band. Sunday night, they sounded even better than they do in this video but you'll still enjoy their performance…