Roger Bollen

Roger (Rog) Bollen (July 27, 1941 – October 3, 2015) was an American writer and illustrator of comic strips and children's books, and a producer of television series that aimed at children.

Roger Bollen
Born	(1941-07-27)July 27, 1941 East Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	October 3, 2015(2015-10-03) (aged 74) Mayfield Heights, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Author, illustrator
Genre	Juvenile fiction, comic strips
Notable works	Funny Business Animal Crackers Catfish Alistair series P.J. Funnybunny Zenon film series Handy Manny
Spouse	Marilyn Sadler (Divorced) Audrey Curran
Children	Melissa Ellsworth

Early life and death

Born in East Cleveland, Ohio, he graduated from Shaw High School and Kent State University.^[1] During his final years, he lived in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. After suffering from a stroke and heart failure, he died in Hillcrest Hospital, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, on October 3, 2015. He was survived by his third wife Audrey Curran and his daughter Melissa Ellsworth.^[1]

Syndicated comic strips

From 1966 to 1980, Bollen drew a two-panel cartoon strip titled Funny Business (in 1975, it was changed into a one-panel cartoon).^[2] From 1967 to 1994, Bollen wrote and drew the comic strip Animal Crackers (adapted into a 1997 animated TV series produced by Canada-based Cinar [now WildBrain] and aired on Fox Family [now Freeform]), his most successful feature which was translated into several languages. Bollen additionally drew the strip Catfish from 1973 to 1986.^[2]

Children's books

Together with his second wife Marilyn Sadler, Bollen produced more than 50 children's books. Their first book, Alistair's Elephant, was published in 1983. Other notable books are the P.J. Funnybunny series and Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (adapted into a live-action film series).^[3]

Television shows

Bollen and Sadler together wrote Disney's CGI-animated children's TV series Handy Manny, where they also served as executive producers.