View source for Norman Mingo

{{Short description|American artist (1896–1980)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Norman Mingo
| image = 
| image_size = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1896|01|25}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|05|08|1896|01|20}}
| death_place = [[Tarrytown, New York]], US
| other_names = 
| known_for=
| occupation = illustrator
| nationality =
}}

'''Norman Theodore Mingo''' (January 25, 1896{{spaced ndash}}May 8, 1980) was an American commercial artist and illustrator. He is most famous for being commissioned to formalize the image of [[Alfred E. Neuman]] for ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]].''<ref name="lambiek">[[Lambiek]] Comiclopedia, https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/mingo_norman.htm</ref>

==Biography==
A prolific magazine illustrator in the [[Norman Rockwell]] vein, Mingo resided in the [[Chicago]] area for decades before retiring to [[Tarrytown, New York]]. As a child, he won an art contest, receiving art materials and a correspondence course as a prize. Mingo had early professional success, even dropping out of high school for a year due to his workload. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he ran a Chicago ad studio whose staff included future [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] artist [[C. C. Beck]]; the studio closed during the [[Great Depression]]. Thereafter he worked largely as a freelancer, including as an illustrator for various [[advertising]] agencies and magazines, including ''[[The American Weekly]]'', ''[[Ladies' Home Journal]]'' and ''Pictorial Review''.<ref name="lambiek"/> He drew Hollywood paper doll books with oversized heads of actors such as [[Bette Davis]], [[Deanna Durbin]] and [[Rita Hayworth]]. He provided a bikinied pin-up girl for a 1946 [[Skin Bracer|Mennen Skin Bracer]] advert, signed with his distinctive Mingo script.<ref>Cohn, Beverly, ''What a Year It Was!—1946'', MMS Publishing, Marina del Ray, California, 1995, {{ISBN|0-922658-04-8}}, page 154.</ref>  In addition to pin-up art, he also illustrated for paperbacks ([[Pocket Books]]), served as a traditional portraitist, painting such subjects as [[George S. Patton|General George S. Patton Jr.]], and drew numerous movie posters including ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 film)|Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]''.

[[File:Mad30.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Alfred E. Neuman on ''Mad'' #30]] 
In 1956, Mingo answered an ad in ''[[The New York Times]]'' for an illustrator ("National magazine wants portrait artist for special project"), and was selected by ''Mad'' publisher [[William Gaines]] and editor [[Al Feldstein]] to create a warmer, more polished version of a public domain character the magazine had been using.  Previously, the magazine had printed a rougher image and re-drawings of the character, which were randomly dubbed "Melvin F. Coznowski" or "Mel Haney" in addition to "Alfred E. Neuman."  The [[Panglossian]] simpleton had appeared in many guises and variations since the 19th century, including in dental advertisements that assured the public of minimal tooth-pulling pain. Mingo's initial painting was the first time Neuman had appeared in color.

''Mad'' editor [[Al Feldstein]] recalled the day Mingo responded to the ad at the ''Mad'' offices:
{{blockquote|In walked this little old guy in his sixties named Norman Mingo, and he said, “What national magazine is this?” I said “Mad,” and he said, “Goodbye.” I told him to wait, and I dragged out all these examples and postcards of this idiot kid, and I said, “I want a definitive portrait of this kid. I don't want him to look like an idiot; I want him to be loveable and have an intelligence behind his eyes. But I want him to have this devil-may-care attitude, someone who can maintain a sense of humor while the world is collapsing around him.”}}

Permanently named "Alfred E. Neuman," the character became ''Mad'' magazine's mascot with issue #30.<ref name="lambiek"/>  In November 2008, Mingo's original cover featuring the first "official" portrait of Neuman sold at auction for $203,150.

Norman Mingo painted eight ''Mad'' covers in 1956–57 before his more regular work with the top-tier [[Dancer Fitzgerald Sample]] advertising agency took up all of his time. Mingo had actually landed both jobs on the same day. While working exclusively in advertising, Mingo illustrated campaigns for a variety of companies including [[General Mills]] cereal, [[L&M]] cigarettes, [[Falstaff Beer]] and the [[U.S. Army]].

During Mingo's absence, [[Kelly Freas]] rendered Neuman for ''Mad'' from 1958 to 1962. Mingo returned to ''Mad'' in 1962 and painted most of its front covers until 1976. Most of his Neuman images were a combination of [[watercolor]] and [[acrylic paint|acrylics]], but he occasionally experimented with different media. His last ''Mad'' cover appeared on issue #211 (December 1979).  Mingo produced 97 ''Mad'' covers in total, plus over 100 additional cover images for ''Mad''{{'}}s many reprint Specials and its line of paperbacks. He also drew occasional ''Mad''-related assignments for others, such as an Alfred-ized version of beleaguered New York City Mayor [[Abraham Beame]] in 1976 for ''[[The New York Times]]''.

Mingo's ''Mad'' cover total surpassed Freas' in 1965, and his leading status endured until 2016, when current contributor Mark Fredrickson became the most prolific ''Mad'' cover artist with his 98th cover.<ref name="lambiek"/>  Combining the regular issues (including some back covers), the reprint "''MAD'' Specials" and the paperbacks, Mingo produced more than 200 original covers for ''Mad''.  Fellow cover artists [[Jack Rickard]] and [[Bob Jones (artist)|Bob Jones]] have remarked that Mingo was the only one who could paint the Neuman character perfectly "on model" every time.

A [[born again|born-again Christian]], Mingo began signing his covers (executed in [[gouache]]) with the [[ichthys]] beneath his name in 1975, beginning with ''Mad'' #174.<ref name="lambiek"/> He attended the [[Reformed Church of the Tarrytowns|Second Reformed Church]] in [[Tarrytown, New York]] with his wife Margaret until her death in 1963.

In contrast to his usual rendering of the definitive Neuman face, Mingo created a dramatic variation in 1979, after the [[Three Mile Island accident]]. On the back cover of issue #210, with an exaggerated version of the plant's [[Nuclear meltdown|meltdown]] in the background, Alfred stands in front of cracking cooling towers, sweating and hair standing on end, and abandons his trademark grin for a grimace as he says, "YES...ME WORRY!".<ref name="lambiek"/>

60 years old when he took his first ''Mad'' cover assignment, Mingo was the oldest of the magazine's regulars to make his debut.  He was also the only veteran of [[World War I]] ever to write or draw for ''Mad'', having served three years in the Navy.

Mingo died on May 8, 1980, after a lengthy illness.<ref>''[[The New York Times]]'', "Norman Mingo, 84, Illustrator Behind 'Alfred E. Neuman,'" May 9, 1980</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.madcoversite.com/ugoi-norman_mingo.html Complete list of Mingo's work for ''Mad'']
*[http://www.americanartarchives.com/mingo.htm Norman Mingo artwork] at American Art Archives

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[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American illustrators]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:Mad (magazine) cartoonists]]
[[Category:American military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Navy sailors]]