I was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois, to my father, an Irish-Canadian, and my mother, who was of German-American descent. I was one of five children, four boys and a girl.
During the fall of 1918, I attempted to enlist for military service but was rejected because I was under age, only sixteen years old at the time. Instead, I joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where I spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. My ambulance was covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but something that I am later known for.
Once I returned from France, I began producing short animated films for local businesses, in Kansas City. By the time I had started to create The Alice Comedies, which was about a real girl and her adventures in an animated world, I ran out of money, and my company Laugh-O-Grams went bankrupted.
On July 13, 1925, I married one of my first employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. Later on we would be blessed with two daughters, Diane and Sharon. Three years after I wed Lilly, I created a new animated character that I will always be associated with.
Too easy? Who Am I?
