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Jim Davis
Born	James Robert Davis July 28, 1945 (1945-07-28) (age 62) Fairmount, Indiana, U.S.
Known for	Garfield comic strip (1978-present)
Occupation	Cartoonist
Parents	Jim Sr. (father) Betty (mother)

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James Robert "Jim" Davis (born July 28, 1945), is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield. Other comics that he has worked on are Tumbleweed, Gnorm Gnat, Slapstick, and a strip about Mr. Potato Head. He also has created a Garfield T.V. show that aired on CBS for six years.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Personal 1.2 Professional 2 Garfield 3 Awards 4 References

Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father Jim (Sr.), mother Betty, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28.

Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity.

Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.

Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for a local advertising agency and in 1969 began assisting Tom Ryan's comic strip, Tumbleweeds. He then created a comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, that ran for five years in The Muskegon Chronicle, a Michigan newspaper. Davis tried to sell it to a national comic strip syndicate, but an editor told him, "Your art is good, your gags are great, but bugs — nobody can relate with bugs!"

On June 19, 1978, Garfield started syndication in 41 newspapers. It went on to become a long-running international hit, remaining so as of 2007. It is now drawn by Brett Koth.

Davis in the 1980s also created the barnyard-slapstick comic strip U.S. Acres, featuring Orson the Pig. Outside the U.S., the strip was known as Orson's Farm. Davis also created a 2000-2003 strip based on the toy Mr. Potato Head with Brett Koth.

In 2005, Davis appeared in the music video "Lazy Muncie", a parody of the Saturday Night Live video "Lazy Sunday".

The comic strip Garfield appears in more than 2,500 newspapers as of 2007. The character is named after Davis' grandfather, James Garfield Davis, who in turn had been named after the assassinated U.S. President James Abram Garfield.

Garfield and Friends was an animated TV series that ran on CBS from 1988-1994. Also created by Davis, it featured segments based on his comic strips.

The live-action Garfield: The Movie was released to theaters in summer 2004. Though commercially successful internationally, the film, which featured Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield, received generally negative reviews. A theatrical sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, was released in U.S. movie theatres on June 16, 2006. A fully animated CGI called Garfield Gets Real, written by Davis, was released direct-to-video (and possibly receive a limited theatrical showing) in the Fall of 2007.

• National Cartoonist Society Humor Strip Award: 1981 and 1985
• National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award: 1989
• National Cartoonist Society Elzie Segar Award: 1985

This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

v • d • e Garfield
Characters	Garfield · Jon Arbuckle · Odie  · List of Garfield characters
Television specials	Here Comes Garfield · Garfield on the Town · Garfield in the Rough · Garfield's Halloween Adventure · Garfield in Paradise · A Garfield Christmas · Garfield Goes Hollywood · Happy Birthday, Garfield · Garfield: His 9 Lives · Garfield's Babes and Bullets · Garfield's Thanksgiving · Garfield's Feline Fantasies · Garfield Gets a Life
Video games	Garfield · Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal · Garfield: A Winter's Tail · Garfield: A Week of Garfield · Garfield Labyrinth · Garfield: Caught in the Act · Garfield's Mad About Cats · Garfield: The Search for Pooky · Garfield & His Nine Lives · Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties · Garfield's Nightmare · Garfield: Saving Arlene · Garfield Gets Real
Films	Garfield: The Movie · Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties · Garfield Gets Real
Other media	Am I Cool or What? · Garfield as Himself · Garfield and Friends · List of Garfield and Friends episodes · Garfield's Holiday Celebrations · Garfield's Travel Adventures · Garfield's Fantasies · Pet Force · Garfield At Large: His First Book · Garfield Gains Weight: His Second Book · Garfield and Friends: Behind the Scenes · Garfield and Friends: An Ode to Odie · Garfield and Friends: Dreams & Schemes  · Professor Garfield  · Garfield's Judgment Day  · Garfield Cat Tales  · Garfield at 25:In Dogs Years I'd Be Dead
Other	Jim Davis · U.S. Acres · Gnorm Gnat · Mr. Potato Head · Comic strip switcheroo · Klopman diamond · Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue