Hank Ketcham was born on March 14, 1920, in Seattle; he wanted to be a cartoonist since age 6. In 1938, Hank left college after his freshman year. He went to California to work as an animator, first for Walter Lantz, creator of Woody Woodpecker. Later Hank worked for Walt Disney, where he helped draw "Bambi" and Donald Duck shorts. During World War II, Hank joined the Navy, and kept drawing-- but now for training material and posters. After the war, Hank was a freelance cartoonist and drew magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post. But his dream of having his own comic strip still eluded him. Hank was living in Carmel, in October 1950, when his wife Alice, worn out by their misbehaving kid, snapped at Hank one day: "Your son is a menace!" History was about to be made. The mischievous adventures of his 4-year-old son Dennis gave Hank fodder to create the famous comic strip, which made its debut on March 12, 1951, in 16 newspapers, and was an instant hit. Hank named Mr. Wilson after a teacher he'd known, and Dennis' friend Gina was named after Gina Lollobrigida . Hank was doing the strip daily, but eventually the work load was too heavy for one person, and Hank built up a staff with comedy writers. His work led to the live action "Dennis the Menace" (1959) TV series, which ran on CBS from 1959 to 1963, and is fondly remembered by baby boomers everywhere. The entire country loved it, and Hank recalled: "I set the whole thing in Wichita, Kansas, and as a result I got made an honorary mayor of Wichita." The newspaper funnies gave rise to collected works of his strips, 50 million "Dennis the Menace" books have been sold. In real life, Hank remarried, then his 2nd marriage ended in divorce. He married a 3rd time, to Rolande, and they had 2 wonderful children, Scott and Dania. The comic strip continued to have tremendous success. Hank stopped drawing the Sunday funnies in the mid-1980s. There was a "Dennis" musical, and a 1993 movie. Hank retired from drawing the weekday sketches in 1994, leaving the work to assistants, but he was still overseeing it. March 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of "Dennis the Menace," now running in 1,000 newspapers. Hank died on June 1, 2001, at his home in Pebble Beach; he was 81. In an interview, Hank had shared his thoughts on his creation: "There's some little bright spot in your day that reminds you that it's fun to smile."

His son, Dennis Ketcham, with whom he had with his first wife, Alice Louise Mahar, was the inspiration, that led to the creation of his so famous and still running and humorous comic strip "Dennis the Menace!". The comic strip is now being run daily, by two King Features' animators. Ron Ferdinand for the larger Sunday comic strip. Marcus Hamilton, for weekdays and Saturday, for the smaller comic strips. He was married to Jo Anne Stevens, they were married 1960 to 1977. Rolande Praepost was his third and final wife. His younger two, Dania and Scott Ketcham, were from his marriage, to Rolande Praepost.Survived by, but estranged from, his real-life son Dennis Ketcham, age 55, the first of Ketcham's three children. Dennis' mother - Ketcham's first wife, Alice, died of a drug overdose when Dennis Ketcham, his first son was just 4 years old. Hank Ketcham was a father, of 3 children, total. Their names at each birth were Dennis Ketcham, Dania Ketcham and Scott Ketcham. Rolande Praepost is or was the mother of Dania Ketcham and Scott Ketcham.Hank Ketcham's "Dennis the Menace" also appeared on Dairy Queen's shakes and Ice Cream containers.Brother in Phi Delta Theta FraternityHe was an avid golfer.Following his retirement, he turned over the operation of the strip to his syndicate, although Ketcham's name still appears on it.Was once the part-owner of Doc's Lab, a private club on Monterey's Cannery Row. Other members were artist Eldon Dedini, and fellow cartoonist Gus Arriola.Paid for the creation of Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey, California.In some comic strips of "Dennis the Menace", the girl, "Dennis Mitchell" likes far much more than "Margaret Wade", is named "Gina", after Italian actress and model Gina Lollobrigida .