Growing up on a farm in Fairmont alongside his brother Dave, his mother Catherine Anna Davis, and his father William James Davis, the young artist spent much of his free time sketching after completing his daily chores. Born on July 28, 1945, in Marion, Indiana, Jim Davis would go on to become a celebrated American cartoonist, best known as the mind behind two iconic comic strips: Garfield and U.S. Acres. That said, Davis himself has acknowledged that his early childhood drawings left much to be desired in terms of quality.
While attending Ball State University, Davis became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. In an amusing twist of fate, the man who loved drawing cartoon cats ended up marrying a woman who was allergic to them. Since 2007, Davis has called Albany, Indiana, home, where he and his wife continue to produce Garfield alongside his team through Paws, Inc.
Paws, Inc. is staffed by numerous artists and licensing administrators. These licensing professionals collaborate with agents around the world to oversee Davis' extensive syndication and entertainment empire.
Davis' journey into cartooning formally kicked off in late 1962 when he landed his first assignment with The Breeze, his high school newspaper. That paper ran a report covering Davis' journalism class, and a year later, he made contributions to the school's Senior Yearbook. His comic work at the school spanned from December 13, 1962, through May 20, 1963, the time of his graduation.
Originally, Davis had his sights set on becoming an arts teacher, but college led him down a different path — business. Upon graduating, he was picked up by a local advertising firm, and by 1969, he had begun working as an assistant to Tom Ryan. Together they collaborated on a comic strip called Tumbleweeds, though Davis harbored ambitions of one day launching a strip entirely his own.
The Pendleton Times, an Indiana Newspaper, brought Davis on board in 1973. His role there involved filling out letters to the editor's page. It was during this period that he dreamed up Gnorm Gnat, a comic strip centered around bugs. The strip failed to win over the editor, who dismissed it with the claim that nobody would have any interest in bugs.
Everything changed in 1976 when Davis published a comic book called Jon in The Pendleton Times, which followed a cartoonist and his relationship with his cat. By 1977, the title had been renamed to Garfield, and it wasn't long before the animated series Garfield and Friends came into existence.
Over the course of his career, Davis has been honored with numerous accolades, among them the Emmy Award, the Golden Plate Award, and the Elzie Segar Award.