American author, cartoonist and illustrator (1930–2019)
Gahan Allen Wilson (February 18, 1930 – November 21, 2019) was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations.
Biography.
Wilson was born in Evanston, Illinois, and was inspired by the work of the satiric "Mad" and "Punch" cartoonists, and 1950s science fiction films. His cartoons and prose fiction appeared regularly in "Playboy", "Collier's" and "The New Yorker" for nearly 50 years. He was a regular contributor to the "National Lampoon" humor magazine. He published cartoons and film reviews for "The Magazine of Fantasy &amp; Science Fiction". From 1992 through end of publication, he prepared all the front covers for the annual book "Passport to World Band Radio". Wilson was a movie review columnist for "The Twilight Zone Magazine" and a book critic for "Realms of Fantasy" magazine.
Wilson wrote and illustrated a short story for Harlan Ellison's anthology "Again, Dangerous Visions" (1972). He also contributed short stories to other publications; including "M1" and "The Zombie Butler" both of which appeared in "The Magazine of Fantasy &amp; Science Fiction" and were reprinted in "Gahan Wilson's Cracked Cosmos" (1975).
In 1975 he designed a small trophy, a bust of H. P. Lovecraft, to be given to winners of the World Fantasy Award; the bust was retired following the 2015 awards amid complaints about Lovecraft's history of racism. A new statuette designed by Vincent Villafranca depicting a tree in front of a full moon was released in 2017.
Wilson created a computer game, "Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House", with Byron Preiss. He wrote the 1992 animated short "Diner".
In 2009, Fantagraphics Books released "Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons", a slipcased, three-volume collection of Wilson's cartoons and short stories for that magazine. A collection of his work, "Fifty Years of Gahan Wilson", was published in 2010.
Awards.
In 2005, Wilson was recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the World Fantasy Awards. He received the World Fantasy Convention Award (in the form of the bust of H. P. Lovecraft that he had designed as the award trophy in 1975) in 1981. He also received the National Cartoonists Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Wilson is the subject of a feature-length documentary film, "Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird", directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe.
He was an influence on later alternative cartoonists, including Gary Larson, John Callahan and Bill Plympton.
Personal life.
Wilson was married to author Nancy Winters (née Nancy Dee Midyette) from 1966 until her death in March 2019.
In 2019, Wilson's stepson Paul Winters announced that Wilson was suffering from advanced dementia. Wilson died from complications of dementia on November 21, 2019, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
References.
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Sources.
Some bibliographical information derived from "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy" ed. John Clute and John Grant.