Cartoonist Profile: Buck Brown

Cartoonist Robert “Buck” Brown (1936 – 2007) will be inaugurated into the Illini Media Hall of Fame Class of 2022 this month at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

   

Buck contributed cartoons to Dollars and Sense, The New Yorker Ebony, Ebony Jr., Jet, Esquire and others but is best remembered for his long run of Playboy cartoons.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Playboy magazine Hugh Hefner accepted Brown’s eighth sketch — a reference to jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Brown’s ability to create satirical pieces from 1961 enabled him to contribute around 600 cartoons to the magazine for over 45 years…

“Coming up at the particular time that I did, you had to be resilient,” Brown said. “You had to be able to laugh no matter what, you know? I mean you felt like crying inside but … you always managed to make light of the situation.”

 

The Daily Illini profiles Buck Brown in anticipation of his being honored.

Most of Buck’s Playboy cartoons can’t be shown on this fairly family friendly site,
but we can direct you to Pipe and PJs where his NSFW humor can be found.

 

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