Norman Theodore Mingo was an American commercial artist and illustrator.
17 Facts About Norman Mingo
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Norman Mingo is most famous for being commissioned to formalize the image of Alfred E Neuman for Mad.
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Norman Mingo drew Hollywood paper doll books with oversized heads of actors such as Bette Davis, Deanna Durbin and Rita Hayworth.
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Norman Mingo provided a bikinied pin-up girl for a 1946 Mennen Skin Bracer advert, signed with his distinctive Mingo script.
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In 1956, Norman Mingo answered an ad in The New York Times for an illustrator, 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.
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Norman Mingo's initial painting was the first time Neuman had appeared in color.
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Mad editor Al Feldstein recalled the day Norman Mingo responded to the ad at the Mad offices:.
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In November 2008, Norman Mingo's original cover featuring the first "official" portrait of Neuman sold at auction for $203,150.
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Norman Mingo had actually landed both jobs on the same day.
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Norman Mingo returned to Mad in 1962 and painted most of its front covers until 1976.
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Norman Mingo produced 97 Mad covers in total, plus over 100 additional cover images for Mads many reprint Specials and its line of paperbacks.
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Norman Mingo 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.
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Norman 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.
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Fellow cover artists Jack Rickard and Bob Jones have remarked that Norman Mingo was the only one who could paint the Neuman character perfectly "on model" every time.
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In contrast to his usual rendering of the definitive Neuman face, Norman Mingo created a dramatic variation in 1979, after the Three Mile Island accident.
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Norman Mingo was the only veteran of World War I ever to write or draw for Mad, having served three years in the Navy.
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Norman Mingo died on May 8,1980, after a lengthy illness.