Ray Moore: Difference between revisions
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==Life and career== | ==Life and career== | ||
===Early life and career=== | ===Early life and career=== | ||
In 1898 David Yearly Moore ''(1871-1933)'' married Martha Stephens ''(1874-1964)''. The first years they lived with David's family at Bedford<ref>1900 United States Federal Census, Bedford, Lincoln, Missouri</ref> Township, near Troy. About 1903 they moved to St. Louis, and rented a home at 6346 Etzel Avenue. They had three children: Mary Adelia ''(1903-1983)'', Raymond Stepens<ref group="footnotes">Ray was born in Montgomery City where his grandparets lived, Dr. George W and Eliza A Stephens.</ref><ref group="footnotes"> | In 1898 David Yearly Moore ''(1871-1933)'' married Martha Stephens ''(1874-1964)''. The first years they lived with David's family at Bedford<ref>1900 United States Federal Census, Bedford, Lincoln, Missouri</ref> Township, near Troy. About 1903 they moved to St. Louis, and rented a home at 6346 Etzel Avenue. They had three children: Mary Adelia ''(1903-1983)'', Raymond Stepens<ref group="footnotes">Ray was born in Montgomery City where his grandparets lived, Dr. George W and Eliza A Stephens.</ref><ref group="footnotes">Previously one assumed that Ray's middle name '''S''' was Schettler. But Schettler are the family name of Alwin H Schettler who married Meta C Moehlenbrock, the sister of Ray's wife.</ref> and David Yearly jr ''(1916-2006)'', all born in Montgomery City ''(Missouri)''. In St. Louis David Y. Moore worked as a jeweler <ref>1910 United States Federal Census, Wellston, St. Louis, Missouri</ref>. | ||
After graduating Soldan High School <ref name="River">Martin, David. "River City Trivia." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 13 April 2003, p 158</ref>, he enrolled in the law school at Washington University and played freshman football. But, as he expressed it: ''"I was kicked out after a year for arguing with a professor."'' In some years he drove a truck and worked on a street paving gang to earn money for an education. About this time he tried to get in the Air Corps, but failed to pass the written exam by 1.3 points <ref name="Wagner">Wagner, Ted P. "Aviation in St. Louis." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 16 February 1941, p 10H</ref>. In 1927 <ref>The Hatchet, Yearbook 1927. Washington University, p 373</ref> he attended Washington University Art School in St. Louis and studied a year and a half <ref>The Hatchet, Yearbook 1928. Washington University, p 372</ref> and then got a job as a commercial artist <ref name="Wagner">Wagner, Ted P. "Aviation in St. Louis." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 16 February 1941, p 10H</ref>. | After graduating Soldan High School <ref name="River">Martin, David. "River City Trivia." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 13 April 2003, p 158</ref>, he enrolled in the law school at Washington University and played freshman football. But, as he expressed it: ''"I was kicked out after a year for arguing with a professor."'' In some years he drove a truck and worked on a street paving gang to earn money for an education. About this time he tried to get in the Air Corps, but failed to pass the written exam by 1.3 points <ref name="Wagner">Wagner, Ted P. "Aviation in St. Louis." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 16 February 1941, p 10H</ref>. In 1927 <ref>The Hatchet, Yearbook 1927. Washington University, p 373</ref> he attended Washington University Art School in St. Louis and studied a year and a half <ref>The Hatchet, Yearbook 1928. Washington University, p 372</ref> and then got a job as a commercial artist <ref name="Wagner">Wagner, Ted P. "Aviation in St. Louis." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 16 February 1941, p 10H</ref>. | ||
Revision as of 13:14, 13 February 2021
| Raymond Stephen Moore | |
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Born: | February 27, 1905 |
|---|---|
| Died: | January 13, 1984 |
| Nationality: |  American
|
| Occupation: | Artist |
| Website: | |
Ray Moore assisted Phil Davis on the Mandrake the Magician comic strip a short periode before he, together with Lee Falk, created The Phantom in 1936.
Life and career
Early life and career
In 1898 David Yearly Moore (1871-1933) married Martha Stephens (1874-1964). The first years they lived with David's family at Bedford[1] Township, near Troy. About 1903 they moved to St. Louis, and rented a home at 6346 Etzel Avenue. They had three children: Mary Adelia (1903-1983), Raymond Stepens[footnotes 1][footnotes 2] and David Yearly jr (1916-2006), all born in Montgomery City (Missouri). In St. Louis David Y. Moore worked as a jeweler [2].
After graduating Soldan High School [3], he enrolled in the law school at Washington University and played freshman football. But, as he expressed it: "I was kicked out after a year for arguing with a professor." In some years he drove a truck and worked on a street paving gang to earn money for an education. About this time he tried to get in the Air Corps, but failed to pass the written exam by 1.3 points [4]. In 1927 [5] he attended Washington University Art School in St. Louis and studied a year and a half [6] and then got a job as a commercial artist [4].
In 1929 he rented a studio at 114 North 7th Street[7], and from 1930 at 2313 Washington Avenue R211[8]. Interesting R. Wilson McCoy and Chas F. Quest (McCoy & Quest) had a studio at 2313 Washington Avenue R205 and Hugh Hockaday (Hugh Studio) was located at 923 Washington Avenue.
The Creation of The Phantom
He started to assist[footnotes 3] Phil Davis [3] (with some of the inking) [9] on the Mandrake strip. Phil Davis made his art with a hard pencil, and Ray Moore traced Davis' pensil lines and filled in the ink.
When Lee Falk needed an illustrator for his new comic, The Phantom [footnotes 4], he asked Ray Moore to handle it. Ray's wife told (in 2004) that he had meetings with four or five St. Louis artists[footnotes 5] a few times a week. Lee Falk came occasionally, they discussed the Phantom's appearance and helped Lee work it out. Some researchers believe that Ray Moore contributed to creation of the wolf Devil, the Phantom's faithful sidekick. Mainly based on Mel Heimer's short biography from 1946:[10] "... at age 5 - my first creation was a wolf, with eyes like headlights - ..". The first daily strip with The Phantom was to be seen on February, 17, 1936. It was followed with a Sunday strip on May 28, 1939.
Ray Moore had met Claire Lydia Moehlenbrock, daughter of Frederick William (1869-1949) and Lydia Charlotte Gerdes (1871-1949) Moehlenbrock. During her childhood in Ferguson (Missouri) she was known by her second name, Lydia. In 1934 she started[11] as a case worker in Rolla and then in West Plain. And in 1936 she became[12] a student at the university in Tulana (Louisiana) where her brother Arthur was a member of the faculty.
Her thesis[13] from 1936 titled "The Administration of Mothers' Aid in Orleans Parish" outlines the ways in which the parish heavily relied on private charities such as the Family Service Society to provide government aid. Ray and Claire married on June 30, 1939 [14] in Crystal City (Jefferson County, Missouri) and they found their home in Webster Groves.
About this time Ray Moore took up his interest in aviation and managed to get a private license and work for an instrument rating for cross-country trips. He bought a Monocoupe and operated out of Lambert - St. Louis Field in 1940 [4].
At the Drawing Board
Ray said[15] that he didn't use models or any other artificial help, he just sat down and drew. He said he usually worked in his shorts and that he often turned out three or four days work in a single night.
Ray draw the Phantom in a realistic style like Alex Raymond and Phil Davis, but with his own personal way. The main focus of the drawings is the characters, made with quick brush strokes. Ray Moore excels especially with his female characters.
The background is often a few ink strokes or details, floating into black ink or the white paper. Looking at the art week by week one notices that the drawings are of slightly uneven quality. Most likely due to his way of working, as well as time pressure to meet the deadline. When the Sunday version were added this can be especially notice in the daily strips. One also notices that there are periods with more detailed background in the strips, which indicates use of assistants.
Before the war he offered for publication a strip in which "The Phantom" played a part in war, the strip was refused at the time [15].
The WWII Years
Late 1942 Ray Moore began training as army instructor at Kelly Field [16], and soon he got the degree lieutenant at South Plains Army Air field [15]. At SPAAF[17] he was a service pilot. Service pilots (established in 1942) were civilian pilots who were recommended by a board of officers to fly only transport, liaison, and other non-combat aircraft outside the theaters of operation. Service pilot duties included flight instruction, ferrying aircraft, flying transport and cargo aircraft, and performing messenger and courier duties.
During his WW II duty something happened to Ray [footnotes 6], which made him unable to keep on drawing The Phantom and his assistant Wilson McCoy became the artist for the ongoing strips in 1947.
The Post WWII Years
In 1949 Ray and Claire bought a house on a remote hill in West County. Ray Moore died in 1984 of natural causes. He was survived by his wife, Claire, who passed away in 2005. Ray Moore's former house and studio off Barrett Station Road will be developed into a futher Missouri Dept. of Conservation area called "Phantom Forest".
Note
- ↑ Ray was born in Montgomery City where his grandparets lived, Dr. George W and Eliza A Stephens.
- ↑ Previously one assumed that Ray's middle name S was Schettler. But Schettler are the family name of Alwin H Schettler who married Meta C Moehlenbrock, the sister of Ray's wife.
- ↑ Possible early 1935, when adding the Sunday version of the Mandrake strips
- ↑ Ray called his hero: "the guy in the long underwear" and Diana: "Pudding' Puss"
- ↑ Claire mentioned Hockaday and later on also some ink work by McCoy. In 1936 they were at: Associated Artists of St Louis: R Wilson McCoy, Wm E Heede, Martin C Kaiser, E Haydn Parks, Elise B Parks, Lester H Willman, J Hamilton Stevens, Fred A Toarper, Marjorie M Lippman, Wm H Cramer, Ralph W Guze. Hugh Studio: Hugh Hockaday, ?
- ↑ Lee Falk said nervous disorder - some kind of neuralgia
References
- ↑ 1900 United States Federal Census, Bedford, Lincoln, Missouri
- ↑ 1910 United States Federal Census, Wellston, St. Louis, Missouri
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Martin, David. "River City Trivia." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 13 April 2003, p 158
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Wagner, Ted P. "Aviation in St. Louis." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 16 February 1941, p 10H
- ↑ The Hatchet, Yearbook 1927. Washington University, p 373
- ↑ The Hatchet, Yearbook 1928. Washington University, p 372
- ↑ Gould's St Louis City Directory 1929, p 1286
- ↑ Gould's St Louis City Directory 1930, p 1048
- ↑ "Lee Falk" Cartoonist Profiles No. 27, p 20-24
- ↑ "Famous Artists & Writers", KFS, 1946, Ray Moore
- ↑ "New Case Worker with Relief Office Here". The Journal-Gazette (West Plains, Missouri), 16 Aug 1934, p 2
- ↑ "Ferguson", St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 01 Mar 1936, p 44
- ↑ Mothers' Pensions Project
- ↑ Marriage License, St. Louis, Missouri
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "Creator of "The Phantom" in comic strips is now air corps officer at SPAAF" Lubbock Morning Avalanche (Lubbock, Texas) 10 June 1943, p 2
- ↑ San Antonio Evening News (San Antonio, Texas) 10 December 1942
- ↑ South Plains Army Air Field, Class book for glider pilot classes 43-10, 43-11, 43-12, 43-13, 43-15, 43-16, pgs 46 and 48