Lee Falk

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This article is based on the Wikipedia article about Lee Falk, as well as from personal interview sources.

Written by Diane M. Falk, a Washington,DC- based Research Writer and Editor for the E-Journal for www.wmassociation.com (The World Media Association),"Youth Issues and Media Influences";and, served as the Head Librarian and Research Information Director with The World & I magazine (1986-2004); and, currently works as an Education Program Associate with the WorldandI online.

The Value of His Life: The life and work of Lee Falk offer a great contribution because: Throughout his decades of original cartoon and playwriting, and theater directing and producing, he always expressed conscientious family values along with those of social conscience and justice. With every creative project, he also managed to gather notable celebrities. With the ability to attract and work with the great actors, artists and writers of his time,for more than six decades, his work made a continous impact locally, regionally and worldwide.

1.Lee Falk, a Renaissance man, was a founding father of the American comic strip industry, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician', were at the height of their popularity secured him over a hundred million readers every day. These were also the first costumed superheroes to appear in the ‘comics’). He was also a playwright and theatrical director/producer, leading him to direct great actors. Marlon See an extensive list under ‘Theater’). Falk also contributed to a series of novels about the 'Phantom'. A film 'The Phantom'(Paramount, 1996)was also produced after years of script revisions (Lee Falk would allow only pure and family-friendly subject-matter;and,therefore, vetoed numerous previous scripts over many years before his final approval). His two characters, 'Mandrake the Magician' and,'The Phantom,' are still active and popular, both in comic books (the newest addition of the 'Phantom' coming from Moonstone Books) and newspaper comic strips. New movie versions of both his creations are also on the schedule, with 'Mandrake' set to premiere as the first of them in 2008.

LIFE AND CAREER

2.Leon Harrison Gross, more known by the alias of Lee Falk, (April 28, 1911 - March 13, 1999) with talents in music, art, theater, and writing, was best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician', who at the height of their popularity, were read by over a hundred million readers every day. These were also the first costumed superheroes to appear in the ‘comics’). He was also a playwright and theatrical director/producer, leading him to direct actors such as Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Paul Newman, Chico Marx, and Ethel Waters.(See a more extensive list under ‘Theater’). Falk also contributed to a series of novels about 'The Phantom'.

3.Leon was born in St. Louis, where he spent his childhood and youth. His mother was Eleanor Alina (a name he would later on, in some form, use in both Mandrake and Phantom stories), and his father was Benjamin Gross. Both of his parents were Jewish, and met in a traveling theater troupe in Ohio. Benjamin Gross died when Leon was a child, and Eleanor remarried to Albert Falk Epstein, who became Leon's father figure in life.

4.Leon changed his surname after leaving college,after he learned that he had been adopted,although always treated equally with his brother, by his stepfather. He took the middle name of his stepfather (Albert Falk Epstein)"Falk", but "Lee" had been his nickname since childhood. His younger half-brother, Leslie, who was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University,(whom Lee had helped to support while in university) also took the name "Falk".

(Leslie Falk became a well-known medical administrator who officially eradicated the miners' disease, 'Black Lung'. His wife, Joy Hume,(who had four children with him, Gail,Ted,Don and Beth, who are lawyers and educators),was the daughter of medical missionaries in Szechuan China, and wrote a book about their experience.)

4.When he began his comics writing career, he claimed that he was an experienced world traveler who had studied with Eastern mystics. In fact, he had created this story about himself in order to seem more like the right kind of person to be writing about globe-trotting heroes like 'Mandrake the Magician' and 'The Phantom'. In later life, however, he really became an experienced world traveler - at least partly, he said, to avoid the embarrassment of having his bluff inadvertently called by genuine travelers wanting to swap anecdotes.

5. A trip to New York at age 19 to introduce 'Mandrake the Magician' to King Features Syndicate was, at that time, the farthest he had been from home. To his surprise, they accepted his new character. Though Falk drew the early episodes, he felt he was more of a writer and that the strip would benefit from a dedicated artist. The first artist he worked with was Phil Davis, an older commercial illustrator from St. Louis who agreed to illustrate the strips while Falk, who was still in college, wrote them. From early on, Falk asked Ray Moore to be part of the team as inker for Davis' pencils.

6.During World War II, Lee Falk also worked as Chief of Propaganda for the new radio station KMOX in Illinois, where he became the leader of the radio foreign language division of the Office of War Information.(He also worked at the Headquarters office in Washington, DC with the person who would later become (Senator) Alan Cranston (of California). At that time, Alan Cranston smuggled out of Germany an unedited version of 'Mein Kamph'(a previously edited version had been circulating that was a completely different content from this newly translated original.)Then, within a few months,Lee Falk and Alan Cranston had this version translated and widely disseminated especially throughout America and the English-speaking world. As soon as the real message of Hitler's 'Mein Kamph' was known, UN Troops were sent immediately to free all the concentration camp victims wherever they were throughout Europe.(Adolf Hitler tried to sue Falk and Cranston but, without success !!).

7.Heartwarming stories have come to him over the years from people who grew-up with 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician'. For example, during World War II, due to the scarcity of books, European school-age children would sometimes learn to read from sources of popular culture, such as newspaper cartoon and comics.

8.One of the great stories of popular culture is the following: During World War II, when Hitler was broadcasting his weekly radio shows throughout Europe, announcing that he had destroyed America and blown the USA off the map’, the American comic strip, The Phantom, continued to be published in the newspapers; therefore, assuring to all, that ‘America was(and is) still there’!

9. Traditionally, newspaper cartoons and comic books presenting noble adventures, with forces of good overcoming evil in various sequences of stories, are more currently referenced as the Graphic Novel or Sequential Art. While what we call comics or cartoons, one of the few phenomenons of American Popular Culture along with Jazz and the ‘mystery and adventure novel' (first created by nineteenth-century writers, James Fennimore Cooper and Edgar Allan Poe)are actually extolled by the French as genuine and original culture—at a time when Americans thought they had no culture. In fact, with the explosion of ‘Pop Culture' in the 1960s, Ph.D. candidates were writing their dissertations at the Sorbonne in Paris, on the 'Jungle Wisdom'in'The Phantom” and about the features of science fiction with the elegant character 'Mandrake the Magician' — the creations and continuous work of the famous cartoonist, playwright and theater director, Lee Falk. Also, Festivals in Spoleto, Italy celebrated the creative accomplishments of especially, the American cartoonists. Other good examples of noble adventure are the classic 'Prince Valiant', Will Eisner's 'The Spirit'; also, the gentle humor of Jerry Robinson's 'Flubs and Fluffs' and Charles Schulz's 'Peanuts', etc. Actually, the list is quite extensive and the good examples numerous for family-friendly Popular Culture.

10.Lee Falk married three theater professionals: Louise Kanaseriff,stage actress/director and theater professor; and, mother of Valerie Falk, who beame a professional artist, teacher and writer;and, whose three children, Marie-Louise, Antony and Rondi are all very active and accomplished theater and education professionals.

11.Constance Moorehead Lilienthal.In addition to having two children, Diane and Conley Falk, she worked with her stage name, Constance Moorehead; she was often the leading lady for many of the Falk theater productions. She acted the lead parts in such classics as The Country Girl,The Glass Menagerie', and The Cocktail Party, Constance Moorehead also performed Shakespeare and other great theater masterpieces.

12.Elizabeth Moxley (interestingly, he married Elizabeth, a respected stage-director, not long before he decided to marry 'The Phantom' and his longtime girlfriend Diana Palmer in The Phantom" strip). Elizabeth would sometimes help Lee with the scripts in his last years. She also finished his last Phantom stories after he died. Lee became the father of three children, Valerie (daughter of Louise Kanaseriff), and Diane and Conley (children of Constance Moorehead Lilienthal).

13.As a father, he was supportive and inspiring to his family, especially to his children, always emphasizing traditional education and values. And, although his popular writing emphasized classic values, he did not encourage his own children to read cartoons. Instead, he loved to tell his stories, in advance of publication, especially to his children and family. Often, their response to a new 'Phantom' or 'Mandrake' story, would determine whether or not he would continue to use a specific plot or storyline. Always, with his stories, was the message, “Might does not always equal Right"; and, "a quick mind with serious study and thought, leads to Success".

14. And further, lessons were offered with gentle hints of humor. He would say about courage (and The Phantom), ‘laugh in the face of DAN-ger”; or, to encourage careful thought before actions, he would say, T-H-I-N-Q!!(a humorous spelling for the word 'think'). And, we were always inpired by his imitation of the humorous Victor Borge.

15. And, when counseling his children about chosing a career, he would say, "find something that you love; and,if possible,would work for free ."

16. In talking to and counseling his children and family about failures or disappointments, he would say in a tone of faith and encouragement,“You will have success and victory in spite of these difficulties.”

17.And, although he always demonstrated a good sense of personal style (dressing well for elegance or casual-style as the occasion required), he would refer to persons whose ideas, in his opinion were in the wrong direction, as "stuffed shirts".

18. Growing-up in New York City, there were many family Sunday walks in New York's Central Park, and numerous visits to the great museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hayden Planetarium and the Natural History Museum, with numerous art gallery and theater visits and viewings, created the experience of a rich cultural life. Also, a typical week-end would include visits to the studios of artist friends to see their 'works-in-progress'; and, attendance at the theater events of fellow actors, directors, producers, etc.

19.Lee Falk was also unique with his interest in creating gourmet foods both from his own inspiration and experimental cuisine as well as from unique historical recipes. One soup required rose petals; another recipe was for olives that were cooked within other ingredients for many days. Ultimately, the 'Cartoonists Cookbook'(including the recipe, "Eggs Falk to the Fourth Power") was created with friends and colleagues,including contributions from the famous Jerry Robinson, President of the Cartoonists' Society,and creator of 'Flubs and Fluffs'.

20.'Expressive sunsets' were also a great part of life with his family in the summers on Cape Cod.He would designate 'humorous financial values' to the different levels of beauty that he felt were represented in each sunset. For example, there were 50 cents, 75 cents and one dollar sunsets (these last were considered the most spectacular !!)

21. Lee Falk lived for more than forty years in New York City, at The Beresford,in an apartment with a panoramic view of the New York skyline and Central Park; and, during the summers, he and his family lived in a house on Cape Cod (Truro, Massachusetts),with strong circles of friends in the arts and literature, such as Alan Lomax (with his own department at The Library of Congress for recording original music and dance of world cultures);the unique collage and abstract expressionist painter, Shirlann Smith, the prominent mosaic and community arts sculptor,Pedro Silva, Norman Mailer(the Pulizer-prize winning author), Jack Kahn (of The New Yorker Magazine), Xavier Gonzales (the great Mexican silversmith), and his wife, Ethel Edwards, famous for her canvases, the series, ‘Moon Viewing Parties’, and many more..

22.Lee Falk was a prolific writer. Besides his comics, he has written five of fifteen paperback novels about 'The Phantom'—the other ten being adapted from his treatments King Features syndicates 'Mandrake the Magician' to more than two hundred newspapers in eight different languages and on six different continents. Now, as when it debuted, 'Mandrake' is admired for its tightly constructed plots, excellent dialogue, drama, and suspense. Falk began writing 'Mandrake the Magician' while studying at the University of Illinois during the Depression. In 1934, at the age of nineteen, while traveling through New York with his father, he stopped by King Features and offered his sequential art to them 'Mandrake the Magician' and 'The Phantom' have spread Lee Falk's message of social tolerance, humanity, environmental awareness, and just plain "doing the right thing" to children and adults all over the world for more than sixty years.

23. He literally wrote his comic strips from 1934 to the last days of his life, when in hospital he tore off his oxygen mask to dictate his stories; Lee Falk passed away in 1999 due to a complication of a health condition. However, his two characters, 'Mandrake the Magician' and,'The Phantom,' are still active and popular, both in comic books (the newest addition of the Phantom coming from Moonstone Books) and comic strips. New movie versions of both his creations are also on the schedule, with Mandrake set to premiere first of them in 2008.

Creating 'Mandrake' and 'The Phantom'

24. Lee Falk had a fascination for stage magicians from his youth. According to his own reports, he sketched the first few 'Mandrake the Magician' strips himself. When asked why the magician looked so much like himself, he replied, “Well, of course he did. I was alone in a room with a mirror when I drew him!” King Features syndicates 'Mandrake' to more than two hundred newspapers in eight different languages and on six different continents. Now, as when it debuted, Mandrake is admired for its tightly constructed plots, excellent dialogue, drama, and suspense.

25.'The Phantom' was inspired by Falk’s fascination for myths and legends, like the ones about El' Cid, King Arthur, Nordic and Greek folklore, and popular fictional characters like Tarzan and Mowgli from The Jungle Book. Falk originally considered the idea of calling his character The Gray Ghost, but finally decided that he preferred The Phantom. Lee revealed in an interview that Robin Hood, who often wore tights in the stories about him, inspired the skin-tight costume of 'The Phantom', which is known to have influenced the entire superhero-industry. In the A&E Phantom biography, he also explained that Greek busts inspired the idea of The Phantom’s pupils not showing when he wore his mask. The Greek busts had no pupils, which Falk felt gave them an inhuman, interesting look. It is known that the look of The Phantom inspired the look of what has today become known as the "superhero". Lee thought that his comic strips would last a few weeks at best; however, he wrote them for more than six decades, until the last days of his life.

26.At a 1991 surprise birthday party for him at The Players Club in New York City (on the edge of Gramercy Park), the famous cartoonist Jules Pfeiffer was quoted as saying, "The Phantom was the model for the superheroes that followed. Falk created mysterious universes with strange happenings, before the era of television. The inspiration for much of the recent fantasy films stems from the creation of characters like those he invented."

27.The most widely read superhero strip today, 'The Phantom' is translated into approximately fifteen languages and is carried by more than five hundred newspapers in forty countries.

Theater

28.Another great passion for Lee Falk was the theater. During a lifetime, he ran six theaters with another famous cartoonist, Al Capp (in Boston, Cambridge, Marblehead and Framingham, Massachusetts, and in New York City and Nassau, in the Bahamas) and produced more than 300 plays and theater productions, directing more than 100 of them. He wrote 12 plays, two of them musicals; "Happy Dollar" and "Mandrake the Magician", based on his comic strip creation. creation; two other brief plays that he wrote, 'Eris' and 'Home At Six' were written with stylized language in words of one syllable; produced together as one evening of theater in New York City, they are family dramas: 'Eris'(the Greek goddess of anger), also represents 'lost love'.After Lee's death, his widow Elizabeth directed a musical called "Mandrake the Magician and the Enchantress", which was written by Lee Falk, which was essentially the same as the previous "Mandrake the Magician" musical(performed in Tanglewood, Massachusetts in 1973). Some of his plays starred well known actors like Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Celeste Holm, Constance Moorehead, Conrad and Monica Bain, Basil Rathbone, Chico Marx, Ethel Waters, Paul Newman, Ezio Pinza, James Mason, Jack Warner, Shelley Winters, Farley Granger, Eve Arden, Alexis Smith, Victor Jory, Cedric Hardwicke, Eva Marie Saint, Eva Gabor, Sarah Churchill, James Donn, Eddie Bracken, Ann Corio, Robert Wilcox, and Paul Robeson.

29. He was especially proud of his professional relationship with the great Afro-American actor, Paul Robeson. This connection also enabled the desegregation of many theaters. Falk's personal beliefs are often mirrored in his writing and work. Many decades ago, his winter theater in Nassau, the Bahamas, catered to the rich who lived and played in this British colony. Patrons of his theater included royals such as King Edward, who left the throne for the love of Mrs. Simpson. Nassau was extremely segregated at this time, and the lush richness of the island and its society residents contrasted starkly with the extreme poverty of the majority of Bahamians.

30.Theaters, like most public places, were segregated—though few of the black islanders could have afforded a ticket. Falk would often take his theater group down to the villages to bring some theater culture to churches and to the people.

31.Lee Falk fought for civil rights for all people,before the 1960s and the civil rights movement. Falk's theater was one of the first integrated theaters. There was a prominent doctor, a surgeon, on the island. He invited many of the society patrons to a special assigned-seating show. During this show, he sat the wealthiest white, female patron next to the black doctor. Although this does not seem momentous now, during the 1940s and '50s, it was people like Lee Falk and his theater celebrities who gave the civil rights movement it's great start."

32. And further, the actors were all paid to perform, but many of them worked on a fraction of what they would normally earn with their movie work. Lee Falk was proud to report that Marlon Brando turned down an offer of $10 000 a week to act on Broadway, in favor of working for Falk in Boston in 1953 in the play "Arms and the Man". His Boston contract was less than $500 a week.

33.Lee Falk has involved himself and his talents to many politically correct and socially conscientious causes. "One thing we did that was great fun was during Nancy Reagan's 'Just Say No to Drugs' campaign. I was on a train with 'Mandrake' and 'The Phantom', and we would visit towns and the kids with this message. Nancy Reagan came by at one of the stops, and we had a great time."

Awards and Recognition

34. Lee Falk won many awards for his dedication to the field of writing forcomics strips and theater. Here are a selected few: • The Yellow Kid Award (1971) • The Roman Lifetime Achievement Award • The Adamson Award for best foreign comics creator (Sweden, 1977) • The Golden Adamson (Sweden, 1986) • Silver T-Square Award (Reuben Award, 1986) • In May 1994, his birthplace St. Louis honored him with Lee Falk Day. On the premiere of 'The Phantom' movie starring Billy Zane, Lee Falk received a letter from President Bill Clinton, congratulating him with his achievements. Lee Falk has also been nominated as a candidate for the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

35.'Favorite Quotes'

"I may not agree with your beliefs, but I defend your right to express them."

"I give 100% of my time to theatre, and what's left goes to comics..."

(When asked about his age): "Never older than age thirty-nine.”

"My only politics is up with democracy and down with dictatorships."

"Each artist, out of his own interests and imagination, creates his own world in his strip – this is true of Peanuts, Beetle Bailey, Popeye, all good cartoons.. And, you accomplish this, not by imitating others - you may create your own good idea. To me, 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician' are very real - much more than the people walking around whom I don't see very much. You have to believe in your own characters."

"The Phantom" is a marvelous role model because he represents the force of ‘goodness’ that wins over evil. Evil never triumphs against 'The Phantom'... He hates dictatorship and is in favor of democracy. He is also opposed to any violation of human rights."

"I believe that politics belongs on the editorial page. But consider that 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician' reach one hundred million readers a day. The messages go out to more people than my personal efforts would reach."

"Falk has always held that violence is unacceptable for a hero. "I don't believe in violence in comics," he affirms. "The Phantom' has never killed anybody in over sixty years. He has never shot an animal except to save someone. Instead of shooting, he will knock the wind out of someone, even though he could shoot the wings off a fly at a hundred yards."

Falk explains that he enjoys writing plays and likens writing one to creating a comic strip. "I think the art of writing a comic strip is closer to the theater and to film technique than any other kind of writing I know," he observes. "When I write stories for 'Mandrake' and 'The Phantom', I write a complete scenario for the artist in which I detail the description of the scene, the action, and the costumes. If new characters are being introduced, I write the descriptions and dialogue for each panel. With such a scenario in front of him, a cameraman could take this and shoot it, or an artist can take it and draw it."

36.Although Lee Falk is considered first and foremost a comic strip writer, he is in fact a master of sequential literature, the art of telling an in-depth, sometimes very detailed, continuing story in panel form.Sequential literature requires a great story to keep it going. It also needs very tightly constructed plots with rich, descriptive dialogue. Not an easy art to master.

37. If you consider the fiercely competitive American cartoon strip industry, where reader loyalty is dictated by character consistency, you know that Falk is to be admired.

38.When you realize that 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician' are the longest-running strips still being created by their originator, you begin to think that he should even be deified.

39.'Mandrake' is a result of Lee Falk's love for magicians and adventurers. As he explains, "I came up with the story of 'Mandrake the Magician' because I loved magicians like Houdini and the great adventurers, like Marco Polo. I have always read a lot of adventure, science fiction, and detective novels. 'Mandrake' is a combination of the great magicians, adventurers, and detectives I have always enjoyed reading about. 'Mandrake' is both a world traveler and an interplanetary traveler. He is a friend and a consultant to both the FBI and CIA."

40.The unusual name, 'Mandrake', is derived from Falk's lifelong interest in great literature. The name comes from a poem by the seventeenth-century poet John Donne: Poem by John Donne: Go, and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root. Mandrake root was a medieval panacea used to bring fertility to women, soothe aches, and cure disease. Despite his quaint appelation,the'Mandrake the Magician' is still as timely and fresh as he was when the strip began sixty-one years ago.

41.'Mandrake' is a superhero who uses his wits and hypnotic power to battle and beat the villains. Able instantly to produce deep hypnosis, Mandrake might disarm a gun-toting thug by making him think he is holding a banana. Then, using sleight of hand and telepathy, he takes away the weapon.

42.Falk used 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician' to show kids that might is not always right and that a quick mind leads to success. He also engineered the first "politically correct" superhero pair-up by teaming Mandrake with Lothar, an African prince of the Federated Tribes who abdicated his throne to help Mandrake fight evil.

43.Non-white action heroes have been rare in comic and superhero history. Lothar is unique: He is a very real, intelligent partner—not just a sidekick. The prince also possesses a keen sense of humor and loyalty. In choosing a black partner for 'Mandrake', Lee Falk was not trying to make a statement, but he succeeded in writing an intriguing and exciting story.

44. Falk recollects that Lothar was widely viewed as an equal to Mandrake back in the 1930s, when such acceptance was not easily won. Describing their relationship, he explains that Mandrake is an exceptional mental giant, who has abilities to trick others with his mind and abilities. Lothar is a physical giant, who is very gentle and also very intelligent. Originally, Lothar wore a turban, leopard skin, and shorts, but as he evolved into Mandrake's very best friend, he also changed. After World War II, Lothar became modernized, lost the pidgin English [he spoke], and his costume changed to a shirt, riding pants, and boots."

45. Lothar was originally Mandrake's bodyguard, but he quickly became more than an employee. According to Falk, the play between Lothar and Mandrake is key to the story.

46.He also comments that when 'Defenders of the Earth' was developed for television in 1986, Lothar was not included on the promotional posters with Mandrake and Falk's other superheroes, 'The Phantom' and Flash Gordon. Falk insisted that the error be corrected. Lothar has always been a favorite among his readers and has been a particularly good role model for his young black readers.

47.King Features syndicates 'Mandrake the Magician'to more than two hundred newspapers in eight different languages and on six different continents. Now, as when it debuted, Mandrake is admired for its tightly constructed plots, excellent dialogue, drama, and suspense.

A Jungle World

48. In 1936, Falk introduced his readers to a second action hero, 'The Phantom'. This was the first costumed superhero to appear in the comics.

49. Because Falk grew up with the Tarzan stories and was intrigued with the richness of the African heritage, he decided to set 'The Phantom' in Bangalla, a mythical jungle somewhere between Africa and India. He saw the wealth of detail and adventure he could put into his black-and-white strips using such a background.

50.The continuing story line has allowed Falk to write about many societal ills. The Phantom has flourished because Falk has dealt with those timely issues of most interest to his readers. The strip has had story lines dealing with the environment, international conflicts, human rights, and the women's movement.

51.Falk states that he enjoys writing plays and likens writing one to creating a comic strip. "I think the art of writing a comic strip is closer to the theater and to film technique than any other kind of writing I know," he observes. "When I do stories for Mandrake and Phantom, I write a complete scenario for the artist in which I detail the description of the scene, the action, and the costumes. If new characters are being introduced, I write the descriptions and dialogue for each panel. With such a scenario in front of him, a cameraman could take this and shoot it, or an artist can take it and draw it."

52.Lee Falk is definitely a literary leader. His works within the comic genre are critically acclaimed both for their tight literary style and for their content and social value. Born slightly more than a decade after the turn of the century, he has always been a step ahead of his time as an innovator and writer of American comics.

A Worldwide Following

53. Among The Phantom's many fans are several pop-culture icons. Federico Fellini, known for his avant-garde films such as La Dolce Vita and La Strada, met Falk in the late 1930s.

54. Later, when he was a popular director, Fellini said that he had always wanted to do a Mandrake film and he wanted Marcello Mastroianni to play the lead. Mastroianni himself was enthusiastic about the project, but, unfortunately, when Fellini died the project was never completed."

55.'The Phantom' remains popular with international fans. In Scandinavia, his fan clubs rival the Boy Scouts for size and good deeds; indeed, a king of Sweden has been a member of the Phantom Fan Club. There is also a Phantom theme park in Sweden.

56."I love to travel to other countries and meet fans of Mandrake and The Phantom," Falk says. "I have heard some great stories from people I have met."

57. In Haiti, the Phantom's oath was taken by a group of revolutionaries during the tyrannical reign of Papa Doc Duvalier. The story is that a group of young officers swore to battle inhumanity and injustice by staging a revolution during a large parade. Unfortunately, the plan was leaked. The effort was foiled, and the young officers were never heard from again.

58. While honored as a continuous contributor to American popular culture,he was also honored in May, 1994, by his hometown, St. Louis, with his very own Lee Falk Day. "I was in town for a comics conference," he explains. "I have a slide show called 'The Golden Age of Comics,' which includes pictures and the history of comics from the Yellow Kid in 1895 up to the strips of the 1950s such as Peanuts. At that slide show, they announced that I was being honored and presented me with a beautiful certificate, which I have in my home."

59.Before the end of his life, when asked about what is next, Falk replied, "I continue to enjoy life, and I hope that the 'Phantom' and 'Mandrake' do also. I have been writing about them for so long. I feel that I am a chronicler of what they do: They are very strong characters with lives of their own. I am happily married with wonderful grown children and grandchildren. There is not a lot more one could ask for."

60. As he concluded every story that he ever wrote with the words, —To Be Continued— We may observe here that all of his creative contributions continue to be important to readers and fans everywhere;and,therefore, are —to be continued—.

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This article is based on the Wikipedia article about Lee Falk, as well as from personal interview sources.