Jim Davis

Jim Davis (born July 28, 1945) is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic strips Garfield and U.S. Acres (a.k.a. Orson's Farm), the former of which has been published since 1978 and has since become the world's most widely syndicated comic strip. 

Davis's other comics work includes Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, and Mr. Potato Head. He has written (or in some cases co-written) all of the Emmy Award-winning or nominated GarfieldTV specials and was one of the producers behind the Garfield & Friends TV show which aired on CBS from 1988 to 1994. 

Davis is the writer and executive producer of a trilogy of CGI-direct-to-video feature films about Garfield, as well as one of the executive producers and the creator for the CGI-animated TV series The Garfield Show.

Davis' influences include Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon, and Johnny Hart's B.C.

Jim Davis was born as James Robert Davis on July 28, 1945, in Marion, Indiana, to James William "Jim" Davis and Anna Catherine "Betty" (née Carter) Davis. He grew up on a small Black Angus cow farm in Fairmount, Indiana, with his family. 

He has a brother, Dave Davis.

Davis's childhood on a farm parallels the life of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon Arbuckle is a cartoonist, who also celebrates his birthday on July 28. 

Davis attended Fairmount high school. While attending Fairmount high school in 1962, Davis was a part of his school's newspaper Whirlwind Breeze. During Davis's senior year, he was the yearbook club's Art Editor. This is where Davis's first comic was displayed, titled "Senior Wills". The first character he made was called Herbie, a senior. The strip appeared in the yearbook on May 21, 1963. Davis also drew the majority of the illustrations throughout the 1963 yearbook.

Davis later attended Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, where he studied art and business. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity.

Early career

Before creating Garfield, Davis worked for an advertising agency, and in 1969, he began assisting Tom Ryan's comic strip, Tumbleweeds. He then created a comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, that ran for three years (1973–1975) in The Pendleton Times, a newspaper in Pendleton, Indiana. When Davis attempted to sell it to a national comic strip syndicate, an editor told him: "Your art is good, your 'gags' are 'great', but bugs—nobody can relate to bugs!" He then began studying the comic strips; still firmly believing that animals were funny, he took note of how Snoopy was not only a scene-stealer in the Peanuts comic strips, but that he was far more of a marketing success than his owner Charlie Brown. Deciding that the comic market was oversaturated with dogs, he decided to create a cat character as the lead of his next strip instead.

Garfield

Davis created Garfield comic strip in June 1978. Originally published locally as Jon in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as Garfield, it chronicles the life of the title character, Garfield the cat; Jon Arbuckle, his human owner; and Odie, the dog. As of 2013, it was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals and held the Guinness World Record for being the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.

Paws, Inc.

In 1981, Davis founded Paws, Inc. to support the Garfield series, comic strips and its licensing. His firm employs nearly 50 artists and licensing administrators, who work with agents around the world managing Garfield's vast licensing, syndication, and entertainment empire. 

In 2019, Paws, Inc., Davis' company, was acquired by the mass media conglomerate ViacomCBS. Davis will continue to draw the Garfield comic strip. Davis went on to say, "I'm delighted that Garfield is going to be placed in the capable hands of the folks at Nick," adding, "They know how to entertain and will be great stewards for the franchise. I am also excited to continue to do the thing that gets me out of bed every morning ... the comic strip!"

U.S. Acres

In the 1980s, Davis created the barnyard slapstick comic strip U.S. Acres. Outside the U.S., the strip was known as Orson's Farm. Davis, along with Brett Koth, also made a 2000–03 strip based on the Mr. Potato Head toy.

Charity work

Davis founded the Professor Garfield Foundation to support children's literacy.

Academia

In the fall of 2016, Davis joined the faculty of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, as an adjunct professor.

Davis is a former president of the Fairmount, Indiana FFA chapter.

Unlike his cartoon alter-ego "Jon Arbuckle" who remained a bachelor, Davis has been married twice. He was first married to Carolyn (Altekruse), who was allergic to cats, though they owned a dog named Molly. They have a son, James Alexander Davis. 

On July 16, 2000, Davis married his current wife, Jill, and had two more children: Ashley and Christopher.

Davis and the family reside in Albany, Indiana.

• Bruce McCabe, "The Man Who Put Garfield on Top", The Boston Globe, March 8, 1987.