Harold R. Heaton
Harold Robertson Heaton (born January 19, 1861) was a newspaper artist whose work focused on cartoons. His prodigious body of work contributed to the development of political cartoons. He also illustrated books and produced sketches and paintings. He left newspaper work in 1899 to begin acting on the stage, and later wrote plays as well. He returned to cartooning for six years beginning in 1908, but continued acting while doing so. He appeared in many Broadway productions through 1932. A brief retrospective on his employment with the Chicago Tribune, from October 1942, mentioned his obituary had been printed "a few years ago". Early years Born in Salem, Illinois, he was the son of Charles Heaton, a civil engineer from England, and Amy Robertson from Missouri. Although born in Illinois, he spent much of his childhood in New York., before moving to St. Louis. As a boy and young man he went by "Harry Heaton". He attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts then worked on the Missouri Republican in St. Louis. In 1887 he was the first artist hired by the Chicago Daily Tribune, where he later headed the illustration department. Newspaper artist Chicago Tribune The first drawings Heaton prepared for the Tribune were done using the "chalk plate" method at his own home. This gave way to the zinc etching method by the end of 1887. One drawing of the still incomplete but newly-opened Auditorium Building for the 1888 Republican National Convention was reprinted fifty years later by the Tribune as an example of Heaton's skill. Heaton's illustrations became some of the newspaper's most popular features, and his work was presented on the front page soon after he began working for the Tribune. During the 1890's he signed his newspaper artwork as "HRH", which led to the nickname "His Royal Highness". In 1893, he produced illustrated weekly commentaries on the World's Columbian Exposition. The newspaper had him continue the Events of the Week drawings long after the exposition closed, and later published annual compilations in book form. These "pen pictures" as the Tribune labelled them were a series of contiguous panels, a bit like a comic strip, though without a continuous storyline. Only the central panel bore the "HRH" signature. Besides drawing, Heaton also delivered lectures on newspaper illustrating to professional societies and social groups. During the later years of the 1890s he also started taking part in amateur theatricals. Heaton left the newspaper in the Fall of 1899 to pursue a stage career. The Inter Ocean In the fall of 1908 Heaton re-entered journalism by joining the The Inter Ocean as an editorial cartoonist. Although his cartoons with the The Inter Ocean began as wide-ranging commentaries on current events, he found his niche within the world of Chicago politics. His cartoons developed a particular focus on Chicago Mayor Fred Busse and State's Attorney John E. Wayman. For this time period, he signed his work as "Harold Heaton" and often inserted a small crow into drawings as a