SANSOM, ARTHUR B. (ART) JR. (20 Sept. 1920-4 July 1991) launched a winner when he developed his "Born Loser" comic strip in 1965.
The son of Arthur B. and Elizabeth Seurig Sansom, Art was born and educated in Cleveland, graduating from Shaw High School. He then attended Ohio Wesleyan University where he earned his bachelor's degree in art and where he also met Isabel Henry, his future wife. They were married in Youngstown, 3 Oct. 1941, and they raised one son, Arthur B., III, (Chip).
During WORLD WAR II, he worked as a draftsman for General Electric (see GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY) in NELA PARK, before joining the Newspaper Enterprises Association (NEA) syndicate as a staff artist.
It was for NEA in 1965 that he began to draw the "Born Loser" comic strip featuring Brutus Thornapple. The strip grew very popular, becoming one of the 10 most widely syndicated comics in the world. Today it appears in nine languages, in over 1,300 newpapers, in 26 countries. Four paperback editions of the strip have also been published.
In 1977 after working on "Born Loser" alone for twelve years, Sansom was joined by his son Chip. The father-son team also collaborated on another strip named "Dusty Chaps."
The "Born Loser" was nominated six times for the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award, as the best humor strip of the year, and it came away with the prize in 1988 and again in 1991.
Following the death of his first wife in 1984 Sansom married Angelyn Mancuso on 3 Dec. 1987. Sansom is interred in Lakewood Cemetery.