“Seein’ Stars” (March 27, 1941)
by Frederic Seymour “Fred” or “Feg” Murray (1894-1973)
11 x 14 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

A bronze medalist from the 1920 Olympics, Murray became a sports and “Hollywood gossip” cartoonist. The “Seein’ Stars” feature ran daily from 1933-1941, although the Sunday strip continued to 1951. My two examples are lined up with my WW2 interests. The other one features an actor who plays Hitler.

This edition features a profile of George E Stone (1903-1976), who portrays Hirohito (although the character’s name was Suki Yaki) in “The Devil with Hitler” (1942). The plot is a burlesque farce: In the pits of Hell, the board of directors decides to replace Satan with Adolf Hitler. Satan persuades them to give him 48 hours to save his job by getting Hitler to perform a single good deed.