Born Garretson Beekman Trudeau on the 21st July 1948, in New York City USA, Garry is a Pulitzer Prize- winning cartoonist, best known to the world for creating the comic strip Doonesbury, and the political comedy series “Alpha House” (2013-2014), among other differing accomplishments.
Have you ever wondered how rich Garry Trudeau is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Trudeau’s net worth is as high as $40 million, an amount earned through his successful career, which started in 1970.
Garry Trudeau Net Worth $40 Million
Garry is the son of Jean Douglas and Francis Berger Trudeau, a descendant of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau who started the Adirondrack Cottage Sanitarium facility for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, located at Saranac Lake, New York, kept in the family, and Francis Jr. Trudeau opened the Trudeau Institute at Saranac Lake, and Gary has also retained a connection. To speak further of his roots, Garry has French Canadian, English, German, Dutch, and Swedish ancestry.
Garry went to St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire, and after matriculation enrolled at Yale University, majoring in arts and becoming interested in graphic design. He was a cartoonist and writer for the Yale’s humor magazine The Yale Record, and reached the position of chief editor. Also, he was a contributor to the Yale Daily News, which published his first comic Bull Tales, a parody of quarterback Brian Dowling, who was also a student at Yale. He took a step upward before graduation, as Yale Record and Yale Daily News published his two creations “Bull Tales: Bull Tales” In 1969, and “Michael J. in 1970.
After graduation he earned a master of fine arts degree in graphic design from the Yale School of Art.
After the initial success of “Bull Tales”, the comic brought the attention of the editor James F. Andrews from the newly formed Universal Press Syndicate. Soon he hired Garry, and the Bull Tales received a new name “Doonesbury”. Since then, the publication has been syndicated through more than 1000 newspapers, and has won Garry numerous awards and also fame. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1975, while in 1994 he received a National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award, and in 1995 was the recipient of the Reuben Award. Two years later, he wrote and directed the short film “A Doonesbury Special”, for which he received Oscar Award- nomination in the category Best Short Film, Animated, and the same year at Cannes Festival he won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film, all helping his net worth.
Aside from “Doonesbury”, Garry has created other publications, including “Hitler Moves East: A Graphic Chronicle” with David Levinthal, about the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and “Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning”, with Rev Scotty McLennan.
Garry has a long history working for television and theater; he wrote the book and the lyrics for the Broadway musical “Doonesbury” (1984), in collaboration with composer Elizabeth Swados, who wrote the music, and the two also worked together on the satire presentation of Reagan Administration “Rap Master Ronnie” (1984). Four years later, he teamed up with Robert Altman to write and produce the TV comedy series “Tanner ‘88”, and the two again worked together on the sequel “Tanner on Tanner” in 2004. His most recent venture was the TV comedy drama series “Alpha House” (2013-2014), starring John Goodman, Clark Johnson, and Matt Malloy.
Garry has also showcased his talents in several successful magazines, including Rolling Stone, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and Time, among others, which also added to his net worth.
He also devoted himself to writing about military issues, with the start of the Gulf War in 1991. He used his influence and talents to support wounded soldiers, and fought to improve their rights and status in the USA, and for that he received Commander’s Award for Public Service by the Department of the Army, President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts from Vietnam Veterans of America, and the Commander’s Award from Disabled American Veterans, among other awards.
Regarding his personal life, Garry keeps his personal life at low profile; however, it is known that he has been married to Jane Pauley since 1980. The couple has three children together.
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Short Film (Animated), Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical
Movies
A Doonesbury Special, Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card, Doonesbury: A Broadway Musical
TV Shows
Alpha House, Tanner '88
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Trademark
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Drawing prominent politicians represented by icons
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Quote
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"I think he is smart but willfully ignorant, and he uses his ignorance for strategic advantage, which is appalling. He substitutes belief for thought. It protects you from self-doubt" -- Trudeau's opinion of President George W. Bush.
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When I talk to wounded veterans, I usually don't ask them what they think the mission was. I don't presume, because their lives are wrenching enough without the suggestion that their sacrifices may have been without meaning. Moreover, if that is so, it will become apparent to them soon enough . . . The young men and women who we've repeatedly put in harm's way are paying the price for this misbegotten mission, and as long as it continues, I, like so many of our countrymen, must walk this strange line between hating the war but honoring the warrior. I don't know how long we can keep it up. . .
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Having a successful daily comic strip is the closest thing to tenure that popular culture offers. But it doesn't seem to have freed up creativity any more than tenure for professors has. It's been an open invitation for complacency.
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America is the only country in the world where failing to publicize yourself is considered arrogant.
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The most difficult character for me is Zonker. He's much more of a free spirit than I am.
Unwinds by watching bad movies with several friends in the style of MST3K.
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Trudeau's great-great-grandfather, James de Berty Trudeau, was a friend of John James Audubon, for whom he shot birds.
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The walls of his studio are covered with original classic comic art -- Saul Steinberg, Jeff MacNelly, George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" and Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland".
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He has made the cover of nine major magazines, including Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and Mother Jones. In some cases his art has been on the cover itself.
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Has an artist's studio in the East 70's in Manhattan.
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Once produced a series of strips mocking the anti-abortion movement, but was pressured not to run them due to their inflammatory nature. They were later printed in The New Republic magazine.
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Wrote the introduction to Bill Watterson's first collection of "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoons.
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Was once thought to be the author of the book, Primary Colors.
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His "Doonesbury" comic strip character "Lacey Davenport" was modeled after New Jersey Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick.
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Modeled his "Doonesbury" comic strip character "Duke" after journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
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Was the subject of controversy over his reference to U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as "brown sugar," a derogatory term aimed at African American women, in the April 7, 2004 edition of his comic strip.
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In the late 1960s, he attended Yale University along with future U.S. President George W. Bush and both served on the same dormitory social committee together. Another fellow student was 'Lanny J. Davis (I)'.
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Children with wife Jane Pauley: twins Ross and Rachel (born in 1983), and Thomas (born in 1986).
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Distantly related to former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau through a common ascendant exiled from France a few centuries ago. He made a reference to his distant cousin in his October 16, 1974 cartoon strip (the week's theme was President Gerald Ford's pardon for draft dodgers in Canada).
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His comic strip "Doonesbury" was the first daily comic strip ever to win a Pulitzer Prize for Best Editorial Cartoon (1975) [Before then, the prize was given only to "single panel" editorial cartoonists].
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He is the first major comic strip artist to put his strip on hiatus for a period of time before returning.
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Creator, writer and artist of the comic strip "Doonesbury".
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Brother of journalist Michelle Trudeau.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Killer App
2015
TV Movie
Alpha House
TV Series written by - 21 episodes, 2013 - 2014 creator - 11 episodes, 2013 - 2014 created by - 10 episodes, 2014
Tanner on Tanner
2004
TV Series writer - 4 episodes
Tanner '88
1988
TV Mini-Series written by - 11 episodes
Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card
1988
TV Movie
A Doonesbury Special
1977
Short comic strip Doonesbury / screenplay
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Alpha House
2013-2014
TV Series executive producer - 21 episodes
Tanner '88
1988
TV Mini-Series executive producer - 11 episodes
A Doonesbury Special
1977
Short producer
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
A Doonesbury Special
1977
Short
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Frasier
1994
TV Series
Louis
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card
1988
TV Movie writer: "Rap Master Ronnie"
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
2008
Documentary courtesy of: Bull Tales comic stripes precursor to Doonesbury