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were next to each other. Cartoonist Bil Keane later spoke of meeting Thelma in the office saying, "Thel was a very pretty 18-year-old with a gorgeous figure, long brown hair and I just happened to have a desk drawing next to her and I got the nerve to ask her out. We started laughing then and never
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around, people would come up to her and say, 'Aren't you the Mommy in 'Family Circus?' And she would admit it." Keane later altered the "Mommy" character's hair in 1996 because the style had become outdated.
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370:. King Features finally agreed to return the rights to the cartoon to Bil Keane after long and protracted talks with Thelma Keane. as of 2008, the comic strip runs in approximately 1,500
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project. She lived with relatives in Gympie while in high school and returned home to her family on the weekends.
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for all of my success. When the cartoon first appeared, she looked so much like Mommy that if she was in the
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Thelma Carne met her future husband, Bil Keane, an
American, while working in the United States
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390:. Keane was survived by her husband, Bil Keane, and the couple's five children, Gayle, Neal,
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in 1960. He modeled the Mommy in the cartoon on his wife, Thelma. The Mommy character in the
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Thelma and Bil were married in 1948. She moved from
Australia to her husband's hometown of
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413:, taking the full-time role of being the lead cartoonist after Bil Keane died in 2011.
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The Bil and Thelma Keane house located at 5815 E. Joshua Tree Ln. in
Paradise Valley
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facility in
Paradise Valley, Arizona on May 23, 2008. She had been diagnosed with
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The grave of Bil and Thel Keane in the Holy
Redeemer Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona
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was even named "Thel" after his wife's nickname. Bil Keane later told the
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in the country to regain the full rights to his comic. She led the 1988
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153:. Keane served as her husband's inspiration and model for the "Mommy"
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farmer. For much of her early childhood, Carne lived in a four-room
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skills as the main reason that Bil Keane became one of the first
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People from
Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
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Thelma Keane died at the age of 82 at the Barton House
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and was instrumental in restoring the copyrights for
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Deaths from
Alzheimer's disease in the United States
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16:Australian-born American businesswoman (1926â2008)
401:, continued to help his father draw and publish
244:for the war effort. Thelma had been hired as an
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459:"Thelma Keane; Wife Of Cartoonist Bil Keane"
342:for her husband while he continued to draw
318:after Thelma's death in 2008, "She was the
275:in 1959. They owned a second residence in
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691:Australian emigrants to the United States
638:"Inspiration for 'Circus' mom dead at 82"
131:; March 15, 1926 â May 23, 2008) was the
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35:Thelma Keane at her office desk in 1967.
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716:Neurological disease deaths in Arizona
578:"Thelma Keane "Family Circus" mom, 82"
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334:Thelma Keane worked as the full-time
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701:People from Paradise Valley, Arizona
681:20th-century American businesspeople
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686:20th-century American businesswomen
200:while her father worked on a local
92:Businessperson and business manager
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457:Meyers, Amanda Lee (2008-05-27).
547:"'Family Circus' mom dies at 82"
251:for the office. Their desks and
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612:"Family Circus visits the city"
346:. Her family credited Thelma's
263:and eventually settled in the
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366:to return the copyrights for
610:Morch, Al (August 2, 1986).
588:. 2008-05-26. Archived from
236:promotional artist who drew
185:, in 1926. Her father was a
721:21st-century American women
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643:United Press International
545:Reid, Betty (2008-05-26).
261:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
196:within the borders of the
394:, Jeff and Christopher.
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301:Bil Keane began drawing
277:Laguna Beach, California
273:Paradise Valley, Arizona
81:Paradise Valley, Arizona
364:King Features Syndicate
616:San Francisco Examiner
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198:Amamoor Forest Reserve
582:Philadelphia Inquirer
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269:Roslyn, Pennsylvania
157:in his long-running
511:East Valley Tribune
388:Alzheimer's disease
232:. Bil Keane was a
226:Brisbane, Australia
125:Thelma "Thel" Keane
696:People from Gympie
397:Her youngest son,
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234:United States Army
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179:Gympie, Queensland
59:Gympie, Queensland
403:The Family Circus
368:The Family Circus
344:The Family Circus
304:The Family Circus
288:The Family Circus
279:. The family was
163:The Family Circus
142:The Family Circus
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514:. Archived from
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405:as an assistant
340:business manager
316:Associated Press
165:to her husband.
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384:assisted living
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173:Keane was born
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506:"Thelma Keane"
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55:March 15, 1926
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592:on 2008-06-27
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518:on 2011-06-11
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208:Personal life
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89:Occupation(s)
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648:. Retrieved
646:. 2008-05-26
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620:. Retrieved
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594:. Retrieved
590:the original
556:. Retrieved
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516:the original
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472:. Retrieved
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360:negotiations
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326:pushing her
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253:workstations
230:World War II
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175:Thelma Carne
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75:(2008-05-23)
73:May 23, 2008
45:Thelma Carne
23:Thelma Keane
676:2008 deaths
671:1926 births
618:. p. 9
356:cartoonists
324:supermarket
320:inspiration
308:comic strip
159:comic strip
665:Categories
650:2008-05-29
596:2008-06-02
558:2008-05-29
522:2008-05-29
474:2008-05-29
417:References
399:Jeff Keane
372:newspapers
354:newspaper
352:syndicated
256:stopped."
246:accounting
224:office in
169:Early life
147:cartoonist
145:newspaper
133:Australian
51:1926-03-15
336:financial
249:secretary
228:, during
222:war bonds
183:Australia
155:character
151:Bil Keane
101:Bil Keane
63:Australia
622:22 April
411:colorist
348:business
281:Catholic
139:wife of
137:American
107:Children
238:posters
265:suburb
242:flyers
191:canvas
187:banana
135:-born
97:Spouse
83:, U.S.
407:inker
378:Death
362:with
312:comic
129:Carne
127:(nÊe
624:2024
409:and
392:Glen
338:and
328:cart
240:and
194:tent
116:Jeff
114:and
112:Glen
70:Died
41:Born
267:of
177:in
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49:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
