Biography

Zekley grew up in Detroit and his first work was at age 18 as an editorial and comic cartoonist for the Detroit Mirror, a daily morning tabloid newspaper which ceased publication without warning in August 1932. After freelancing for a couple of years, he moved to California and began work with Disney, but after two weeks he was unemployed when the studio closed for the 1935 summer.

Sketching on the tablecloth in a restaurant one night, he was spotted by Charles McManus who liked his talent and decided to introduce him to his brother George McManus, one of America's most widely read cartoonists, with his newspaper strip 'Bringing Up Father', and in desperate need of an assistant. Initially, Zekley was paid $50 (USD 967.00 in 2021) a week, doing lettering and inking, but he soon began collaborating with McManus on both the penciled art and the writing.

After McManus' death in 1954, King Features Syndicate (a print syndication company that distributes about 150 comic strips) replaced him with cartoonist and illustrator Vernon Greene.

Zekley started his own company, Sponsored Comics, which created promotional comic books for businesses, including McDonald's. For ten years, he drew special comics for the Squirrel Club. For a time, he also worked on 'PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly', a US Army technical bulletin publication created by Will Eisner, one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry.

He died at the age of 90 and was buried in Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles, California.
- IMDb mini biography by: rod-duncan