Early Life
Raised in New Jersey as an only child, Russ Heath at an early age became interested in drawing. "My father used to be a cowboy, so as a little kid I was influenced by Western artists of the time. Will James was one, an artist-writer—I had most of his books. Charlie Russell was my favorite because his work was absolutely authentic, because he drew what he lived..." Largely self-taught, Heath began freelancing for comics during summers while he was in high school, and both penciled and inked at least two installments of the naval feature "Hammerhead Hawley", in Holyoke Publishing's Captain Aero Comics vol. 2, #2 (Sept. 1942) and vol. 3, #12 (April 1944).
Heath was in Montclair, New Jersey's Montclair High School class of 1945. It is unclear if Heath, anxious to fight in World War II, graduated; in a 2004 interview, he recalls going "into the Air Force in my senior year of high school, in 1945," after having been "put in an accelerated class so I could get through with high school. I almost made it, but then the Air Force called me and in I went." He served stateside for nine months, drawing cartoons for his camp newspaper, but due to a clerical error, he said, he was on neither the military payroll nor any official duty roster for a significant portion of his time. A 2011 article in his hometown newspaper said that, "After a short stint in the military, Heath came back to Montclair, graduated from high school, got married and started a family."
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