Rose Cecil O'Neill was an American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer.
26 Facts About Rose O'Neill
2.
Rose O'Neill rose to fame for her creation of the popular comic strip characters, Kewpies, in 1909, and was the first published female cartoonist in the United States.
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The daughter of a book salesman and a homemaker, O'Neill was raised in rural Nebraska.
4.
Rose O'Neill exhibited interest in the arts at an early age, and sought a career as an illustrator in New York City.
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Rose O'Neill wrote several novels and books of poetry, and was active in the women's suffrage movement.
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Rose O'Neill was for a time the highest-paid female illustrator in the world upon the success of the Kewpie dolls.
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Rose O'Neill has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
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In 2022 at San Diego Comic Con, Rose O'Neill was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame as a Comic Pioneer.
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Rose O'Neill was born on June 25,1874, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the daughter of William Patrick, an Irish immigrant, and Alice Asenath "Meemie" Smith Rose O'Neill.
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Rose O'Neill had two younger sisters, Lee and Callista, and three younger brothers: Hugh, James, and Clarence.
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Rose O'Neill was able to sell her drawings to numerous publishing houses and began taking orders for more.
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In 1892, while in Omaha, Rose O'Neill met a young Virginian named Gray Latham, whom she married in 1896.
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Rose O'Neill visited O'Neill in New York City, and continued writing to her when she went to Missouri to see her family.
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Concerned with the welfare of her family, Rose O'Neill sent much of her paycheck home.
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Rose O'Neill found that Latham, with his very expensive tastes, had spent her paychecks on himself.
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Rose O'Neill then moved to Taney County, Missouri, where she filed for divorce in 1901, returning to Bonniebrook.
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In late 1901, Rose O'Neill began receiving anonymous letters and gifts in the mail.
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Rose O'Neill learned that they were sent by Harry Leon Wilson, an assistant editor at Puck.
19.
In 1904, Rose O'Neill published her first novel, The Loves of Edwy, which she illustrated.
20.
Many women artists, including Rose O'Neill, could be characterized as examples of the educated, modern, and independent "New Woman," a form of gender identity that emerged at the time.
21.
At the height of the Kewpie success, Rose O'Neill was the highest-paid female illustrator in the world.
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Rose O'Neill continued working, even at her wealthiest, exploring many different types of art.
23.
In 1927, Rose O'Neill returned to the United States, and by 1937 was living at Bonniebrook permanently.
24.
Rose O'Neill experimented with crafting a new doll, eventually creating Little Ho Ho, which was a laughing baby Buddha.
25.
Rose O'Neill became a prominent personality in the Branson, Missouri, community, donating her time and pieces of artwork to the School of the Ozarks at Point Lookout, Missouri, and remaining active in the local art community.
26.
Rose O'Neill is interred in the family cemetery at Bonniebrook Homestead, next to her mother and several family members.