the comic strip was syndicated nationwide, and between 1916 and 1926, his film production company created another 277 Mutt and Jeff film productions. On these film projects, Fisher is almost exclusively credited as the writer, animator and director, although the majority of animation was by Raoul Barré and Charles Bowers, and often the plots were adaptations of popular stories and fairy tales, such as A Kick for Cinderella (1925). Mutt and Jeff was also published in comic book form. The income from multiple uses of his characters made Fisher a wealthy man. In 1932, he authorized Al Smith to produce the strip under his supervision. Smith drew Mutt and Jeff for 48 years. When Fisher died in 1954, Smith began signing his own name and continued to draw the strip until 1980 when George Breisacher took over for its final two years. Personal life On April 20, 1912, Fisher eloped with Pauline Margaret Welch, a vaudeville actress from Baltimore. They were divorced in 1917. On October 25, 1925, Fisher married Aedita de Beaumont, former wife of Count François de Beaumont. The couple parted after four weeks but never divorced. After Fisher's death, ownership of the strip passed to Aedita de Beaumont, and on her death in 1985 to her son from her earlier marriage, Pierre de Beaumont (1915–2010). Fisher acquired a large stable of Thoroughbred racehorses. In 1924, his horse Nellie Morse became the fourth filly (out of only six total as of 2022) to win the Preakness Stakes. That same year, his colt Mr. Mutt finished second in the Belmont Stakes. Fisher died September 7, 1954, of cancer at age 69, at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. He lived at the time at 383 Park Avenue. and was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City. Bibliography Fisher, Bud, " 'Here's How!'—Says Bud," Photoplay, July 1920, p. 58. References External links Mr. Mutt and the Belmont Stakes International Museum of the Horse 1885 births 1954 deaths American comics artists American comic strip cartoonists American film directors Film producers from Illinois American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Preakness Stakes winners Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Artists from Chicago