Mary Perkins On Stage

Mary Perkins, On Stage (originally titled simply On Stage) is an American newspaper comic strip by Leonard Starr for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. It ran from February 10, 1957, to September 9, 1979, with the switch to the longer title in 1961. Some papers carried the strip under the shortened title Mary Perkins.

The strip came to a conclusion when Starr left in 1979 to take over Little Orphan Annie.

Having previously worked on comic books, Starr decided to try to publish a newspaper comic strip. Starr submitted his concepts to Moe Riley, a vice president at the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Riley chose two of Starr’s ideas: one about a missionary who worked in foreign countries and the other about a young woman who comes to New York to become an actress. The syndicate chose the second idea, and Starr was hired to produce On Stage.

Starr’s scripts mixed soap opera, adventure and broad humor, while the art was characterized by a studied line and often innovative storytelling. The strip offered a Broadway backstage drama as it followed the career of actress Mary Perkins in New York, Hollywood and on various international film sets and locations. A host of supporting characters joined Mary, including (in early September 1957) her photographer beau, Pete Fletcher. The two married on December 13, 1959.

The first On Stage Sunday strip was launched February 10, 1957. That is generally considered the start date for the strip, but in 1970, comics historian Raymond Miller wrote that internal evidence in the first Sunday page suggested the strip had at least a week’s worth of prior daily strips.

Starr won the National Cartoonists Society Story Comic Strip Award for the series in 1960 and 1963, and its Reuben Award in 1965.

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UPDATE 13-02-2025

Mary Perkins On Stage 1959

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UPDATE 15-08-2024

Mary Perkins On Stage 1958

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and James Gauthier

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UPDATE 31-05-2024

Mary Perkins On Stage 1964

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UPDATE 27-10-2023

Mary Perkins On Stage 1957 Upgrade

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UPDATE 03-06-2023

Mary Perkins On Stage 1963

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UPDATE 06-02-2023

Mary Perkins On Stage 1973

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Thanks to Mulo Kibizer

Mary Perkins On Stage 1957

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Mary Perkins On Stage 1960

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Mary Perkins On Stage 1961

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Mary Perkins On Stage 1962

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Mary Perkins On Stage 1974

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Mary Perkins On Stage 1975

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On Stage 01 – The adventures begins
On Stage 02 – Hounting Memories
On Stage 03 – Doing the Rounds

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On Stage 04 – Concerto for Mary
On Stage 05 – A photographer in love
On Stage 06 – An engagement with complications

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19 strips 1958

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