George Herriman - Personal Life

Personal Life

He was described as self-deprecatingly modest, and disliked being photographed. The New York Journal-American's obituary described him as a devoted husband and father, of slight build, mild-mannered and an anonymous contributor to charities for the needy. He was generous to his friends, and sold his first Hollywood house, which had bought for $50,000, to a friend for $40,000.

Though a private person, he was said to be an entertaining host to his friends. He would sometimes stay silent during social occasions, however, and on often would step out to do the dishes, which he said he enjoyed as it gave him the opportunity to think. His favorite game was poker, which he particularly enjoyed playing with his fellow cartoonists.

He had a great love of animals, and had a large number of dogs and cats. He usually kept to a vegetarian diet, except when it made him feel too weak, and refused to ride horses. He so admired Henry Ford's pacifist stance that he would only buy Ford automobiles. He would trade in for a new model each year.

He married his childhood sweetheart Mabel Lillian Bridge in Los Angeles on 7 July 1902. They had two daughters: Mabel in early May 1903 (nicknamed "Toodles", later "Toots"); and Barbara (nicknamed "Bobbie") in 1909, who had epilepsy. He loved animals, and had five dogs and thirteen cats in 1934. His only grandchild, Dinah (nicknamed "Dee") was born to Bobbie and her husband, author-scriptwriter Ernest Pascal.