Bil Keane, a Phoenix cartoonist, started drawing Family Circus in 1960. The artist was born in Pennsylvania, served in the Army, met his wife (and inspiration for his “Mommy” character) in Australia, ...

Keane, who started drawing the one-panel cartoon featuring Billy, Jeffy, Dolly, P.J. and their parents in February 1960, died Tuesday at age 89 at his longtime home in Paradise Valley, near Phoenix.

The Family Circus was created by Bill Keane in 1960 as a single-panel newspaper comic strip about the wholesome everyday lives of a suburban family. The cast consists of Bil the father, Thel the ...

Keane, who started drawing the one-panel cartoon featuring Billy, Jeffy, Dolly, P.J. and their parents in February 1960, died Tuesday at age 89. His comic strip is featured in nearly 1,500 newspapers ...

PHOENIX — Bil Keane's "Family Circus" comics entertained readers with a simple but sublime mix of humor and traditional family values for more than a half century. The appeal endured, the author ...