Alex Gard
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Alex Gard (1900 - June 1, 1948), born Alexis Kremkoff in Kazan, Russia, was a cartoonist. He contributed weekly drawings to the drama section of The New York Herald Tribune, and was hired to create caricatures of Broadway and other celebrities at Sardi's Restaurant in New York City.
Restaurant owner Vincent Sardi and Gard drew up a contract that stated Gard would make the caricatures in exchange for one meal per day at the restaurant. Gard drew caricatures in exchange for meals until his death, ultimately creating over 700 pictures. Today, the caricatures are housed in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
During World War I, Gard worked on a Russian destroyer. After the Bolshevik Revolution, he left Russia for France and drew cartoons for Le Matin in Paris. He came to America in 1924.
Gard created several books of caricatures: Ballet Laughs (New York: The Greystone Press, 1941); Sailors in Boots (New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1943); Getting Salty (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1944); Sick Bay (New York: C. Scribner's, 1945); More Ballet Laughs (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1946) and Stars Off Gard (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1947).
Gard, who lived on East 72nd Street in New York City, collapsed on the street and died as he was being transported to Roosevelt Hospital in 1948.
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[edit] References
- Vincent Sardi, Jr. with Thomas Edward West. Off the Wall at Sardi's (Applause Books, 1991) ISBN 1-55783-051-7
- Vincent Sardi, Sr. with Richard Gehman. Sardi's: The Story of a Famous Restaurant (Henry Holt and Co., 1953)
- "A.Gard, Caricaturist, Work on Sardi Walls." The New York Times, June 2, 1948.
