Gould, Chester (1900-1985), was an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip “Dick Tracy.” In a series of violent adventures, clean-cut police detective Dick Tracy battled bizarre villains. These villains were distinguished by their unusual physical appearance and had descriptive names, such as Flattop, the Brow, the Mole, B. B. Eyes, and Pruneface. Gould also created other characters in “Dick Tracy” who became popular, including B. O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie. In the strip, Gould featured a number of crime-fighting devices that were ahead of their time, such as two-way radios and closed-circuit television.
Gould introduced “Dick Tracy” in 1931 and continued the strip until his retirement in 1977. At the peak of its popularity in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, “Dick Tracy” was a part of American popular culture. The comic strip detective was the hero of a radio serial (1935-1948), several motion pictures, and a television series (1950-1951). After Gould’s retirement, other artists continued “Dick Tracy.”
Gould was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma. He attended Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University), Northwestern University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Gould was an editorial cartoonist for Oklahoma newspapers from 1919 to 1921, when he moved to Chicago. He was a cartoonist and illustrator for several Chicago newspapers during the 1920’s.
