So we became intrigued about this mystery. In the latest New Yorker, author Adam Gopnik reviewed two new books about Buster Keaton and offered a quote about Keaton from — and I quote: "His brother-in-law, the cartoonist Walt Kelly." That would seem to be the cartoonist Walt Kelly who created and drew my favorite comic strip (and yours if you have a lick o' sense), Pogo.
Walt Kelly scholars — like, say, me — were amazed at the claim that Kelly was Keaton's brother-in-law. So were folks who knew Walt personally — like, say, his son Peter. We all began puzzling and puzzling 'til our puzzlers were sore…and I'll single out a couple of folks who went to work on this mystery and came up with some solid clues: Maggie Thompson, Harry McCracken and Mike Whybark.
We thought we had it solved when someone discovered that in Keaton's autobiography, My Wonderful World of Slapstick, there are several mentions of a performer named Walter C. Kelly, who was one of Keaton's father's best friends. He's also mentioned in Rudi Blesh's authorized biography of Keaton (entitled Keaton).
This Walter C. Kelly was an actor on the vaudeville circuit when The Three Keatons — Buster being one of them — were touring on that circuit. He portrayed a character called The Virginia Judge, who appears to have been quite the redneck, spouting jokes that might go over big at a Ku Klux Klan rally. He was popular enough to make it to Broadway and movies. The above lobby card is from a 1935 film he made as his stage character, three years before he died in a traffic accident. He was the uncle of Grace Kelly, who went from being a movie star to being the Princess of Monaco.
There is no evidence yet that this Walter C. Kelly was a cartoonist or that he was related to Buster Keaton. But we were thinking maybe the answer to this riddle was that someone had that Walter C. Kelly confused with the Walter C. Kelly who drew Pogo. The Pogo guy's full name was Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr.
That seemed to be the answer but it was, of course, dead wrong. As it turns out, Buster Keaton had two Walt Kellys in his life, neither one of whom did Pogo. One of the two Keaton books that Adam Gopnik was reviewing was by James Curtis. Here's the cover of the book and a picture of the author…
And here's an e-mail that I received this morning from James Curtis…
I think I can clarify the matter regarding Buster Keaton and Walt Kelly, but only somewhat.
I am the author of the upcoming book Adam Gopnik was referencing, and Buster Keaton did indeed have a brother-in-law named Walt Kelly. But why Gopnik made the completely unnecessary assumption that the Walt Kelly who was married to Eleanor Keaton's younger sister Jane was the same Walt Kelly who created Pogo is beyond me. As you know, that Walt Kelly died in 1973. As of two months ago, the Walt Kelly I interviewed was still alive and living in Southern California. He is certainly not identified as the other Walt Kelly in my book.
The review appeared on line yesterday morning, and Leonard Maltin wrote to congratulate me. I mentioned this odd situation of confusing a career military officer with a world-renowned cartoonist. He said: "So much for fact-checking!" I also heard from a gentleman in Seattle who was writing on behalf of a Facebook group called "I Go Pogo" asking if I could throw some light on the matter. I told him what I knew, and he thanked me for the clarification. "It's sort of amusing," he commented, "even if it's disappointing to read it from a pen of such a high caliber. I've been pondering this all day…"
I wonder how many others have been pondering it as well.
To be fair, Adam Gopnik didn't say the Walt Kelly that he was quoting was the cartoonist who produced Pogo; just that he was a cartoonist. But a lot of us were doing a lot of pondering. Thanks to Mr. Curtis for his quick clarification and I have already ordered a copy of his book. If you'd like to get your order in, here's a link.
By the way: Several people wrote to remind me that Walt Kelly (the Pogo guy) worked for several years for Walt Disney here in Southern California so he could have crossed paths with Buster Keaton. Yes, he could have…but there's no reason to assume he did. And of course, I did know about his Disney work. One of the things I inherited from his daughter Carolyn was a folder with all his Disney pay slips, his Disney contracts, inter-office memos, invites to Disney debauchery parties, the samples that got him his job there, etc. I even have this…
Next time I go over to the lot, I'm going to flash it and see if they'll let me in. With my luck, they'll probably think I'm one of the other Walt Kellys.