Charles Schulz

Schulz wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every single daily and Sunday Peanuts comic strip for exactly 50 years, from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000. He famously refused to use assistants, believing that no one else could properly capture the emotion of the characters. He announced his retirement due to failing health in late 1999 and passed away peacefully the night before his final Sunday strip was published.

Schulz worked out of his personal studio located at 1 Snoopy Place in Santa Rosa, California. He later developed the surrounding property into the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, affectionately known as Snoopy's Home Ice. Today, this area houses the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, which preserves his original artwork and legacy.

Before achieving massive success with Peanuts, Schulz created a one-panel comic called 'Li'l Folks.' This early cartoon featured a dog resembling Snoopy and a boy who looked remarkably like Charlie Brown. The strip was published weekly in his hometown newspaper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, from 1947 until it was picked up for national syndication in 1950.

Yes, Schulz was drafted into the United States Army in 1943 during World War II. He served as a machine-gun squad leader with the 20th Armored Infantry Division in Europe, seeing combat towards the end of the war. His military experience deeply influenced his worldview and later inspired storylines featuring Snoopy as a World War I Flying Ace fighting the Red Baron.