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George Woodbridge's drawing of a Bacon's Rebellion soldier in 1675

George Woodbridge (1930-January 19, 2004), an American illustrator known for his exhaustive research and historical accuracy, is sometimes referred to as "America's Dean of Uniform Illustration."

Born in Flushing, New York, Woodbridge studied illustration at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts. In later years, he lived on Staten Island where he created his detailed drawings of military uniforms, insignia and equipment. He illustrated many military history books, including the Time/Life Civil War history, George Neumann's Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution and Frederick P. Todd's three-volume American Military Equipage, 1851-1872: A Description by Word and Picture of What the American Soldier, Sailor and Marine of These Years Wore and Carried (Company of Military Historians, 1974-78), a definitive depiction of Civil War uniforms. These books are now used by Civil War re-enactors for uniform authenticity.

In March, 1957, Woodbridge began as a freelancer to Mad when Al Feldstein was the editor. Feldstein observed, "George's strong points were many. He was especially adept at delineating amusing street scenes with crowds and signs and outlandish going-ons, as well as depicting humorous interpretations of just plain people in comedic human situations. The articles he was assigned to illustrate were chosen with those superb talents in mind."

George Woodbridge self portrait

Woodbridge remained with Mad for five decades. Later Mad editor John Ficarra noted, "He had a tremendous eye for detail that showed up in his drawings. We especially played to his history knowledge. When we gave him a piece on World War I, he would draw the exact gun and belt buckle they were using then."

In Mad 95 (June, 1965), he drew the sports satire, "43-Man Squamish." Ficarra commented, "It's arguably our most requested piece to reprint. It struck a chord. Colleges all over formed teams and played this crazy game, with these ridiculous-looking helmets. George captured that lunacy."

Sometimes confused with the British actor George Woodbridge (1907-1973), he also illustrated Mad books, such as Dick DeBartolo's A Mad Guide to Leisure Time and Mad's Cradle to Grave Primer (Warner Books, 1973), written by Larry Siegel and edited by Nick Meglin. For the Mad Style Guide (1994), as a guide for possible manufacture of Mad Zeppelin models, he did detailed drawings of the airship from several angles. Woodbridge was color blind, yet he worked in color, as noted by cartoonist Sergio Aragonés, "He was such a good friend. He knew everything about history and he knew everything about artwork. When I was starting out and they gave me assignments that had to be in color, George was the one who helped me. Even though he was color blind, he did the most remarkable work in color. He was a wonderful man, and I will miss him very much."

Another of his friends was the historian Kenneth Holcomb Dunshee (The Village Blacksmith, American Museum of Firefighting, As You Pass By). Woodbridge told Mark Evanier (Mad Art), "I regard myself as an illustrator of historical subjects. When I'm not working for Mad, that's the field in which I work, though I'm damned proud to be part of Mad. I don't consider one field superior to the other and, in fact, the challenges are altogether different. In historical illustration, the goal is to be accurate. In Mad, the goal is to be funny."

He was survived by his wife, Deborah Woodbridge, and son, George Woodbridge, when he died, age 73, of emphysema on January 19, 2004, in a Staten Island hospital. Prints and original artwork by Woodbridge can sometimes be found on eBay.

• Mark Evanier on George Woodbridge
• 43-man Squamish
• Frank Meyer on George Woodbridge animation