Otto Soglow

Otto Soglow was an American cartoonist best known for creating the wordless comic strip *The Little King*. He was born on December 23, 1900, in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, to German-Jewish parents, and died on April 3, 1975. Growing up in New York City, he held a series of odd jobs as a teenager—his first was painting designs on baby rattles—and briefly pursued acting without success. After studying under John Sloan at the Art Students League of New York, his first cartoon was published in 1919. Throughout the 1920s, his work appeared in magazines such as *New Masses*, *New York World*, *Collier’s*, *The New Yorker*, *Judge*, and *Life*. Soglow illustrated more than 35 books and authored five of his own, including *Wasn’t the Depression Terrible?* (1934). His clean, minimalist linework and gentle satire made *The Little King* a signature creation, syndicated widely and later adapted into animated shorts. Over a career spanning from 1927 into the 1970s, he contributed to titles like *Magasinet*, *Family Funnies*, and *Der kleine König*. Soglow’s legacy endures as a master of pantomime comics, and his work remains a touchstone of mid-century American humor.