Ted Key

Ted Key (born Theodore Keyser; August 25, 1912 – May 3, 2008) was an American cartoonist and writer. He is best known as the creator of the cartoon panel Hazel, which was later the basis for a television series of the same name, and also the creator of the Peabody's Improbable History animated segments.

College to cartoons Born in Fresno, California, Key was the son of Latvian immigrant Simon Keyser, who had changed his name from Katseff to Keyser, and then to "Key" during World War I. and was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. After graduating from college in 1933, Key relocated to New York City, where he published cartoons and illustrations in a number of periodicals, including Better Homes and Gardens, Collier's, The New Yorker, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, McCall's, Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, Mademoiselle, Look, and Judge. Key also worked as associate editor of Judge in 1937.

Hazel

Key's most famous creation, the single-panel Hazel, about a wry and bossy household maid, came to Key in 1943 in a dream that he drew the next morning and sent to The Saturday Evening Post, where it was accepted and began running regularly. With the increased output of six cartoons a week, Key hired veteran gag cartoonist Stan Fine to lend a hand.

Key later adapted his comic panel into the television show Hazel, starring Shirley Booth as the titular maid. It ran from 1961 to 1964 on NBC; for its final 1965 season, the show switched to CBS. Key continued to draw the strip until his retirement in 1993. King Features reprints panels in over 50 newspapers as of 2008. Key also provided illustrations for the long-running "Positive Attitude" series of motivational pamphlets and posters, published biweekly by Economics Press Inc. from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Radio Key also wrote radio plays during the 1930s and 1940s. His radio drama, The Clinic, broadcast on NBC, was chosen for Max Wylie's Best Broadcasts of 1939-40 anthology.

Other works He was the screenwriter for three Disney films (The Cat from Outer Space, Million Dollar Duck, and Gus), and he created several classic children's books, including Phyllis and The Biggest Dog in the World (later adapted into the film Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World).

Personal life During World War II, Key served with the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946, primarily in public relations, where he wrote a play aimed at recruiting women into military service. Key was married twice; his first wife, Anne, died in 1984, and Key was survived by second wife Bonnie and by three sons: Stephen, David, and Peter.