The Family Circus (originally The Family Circle, also Family-Go-Round) is a syndicated comic strip created by cartoonist Bil Keane and, since Keane's death in 2011, is written, inked and rendered (colored) by his son Jeff Keane. The strip generally uses a single captioned panel with a round border, hence the original name of the series, which was changed following objections from the magazine Family Circle. The series debuted on February 29, 1960 and has been in continuous production ever since. According to publisher King Features Syndicate, it is the most widely syndicated cartoon panel in the world, appearing in 1,500 newspapers. Compilations of Family Circus comic strips have sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.
Characters
Family
The central characters of Family Circus are a family whose surname is rarely mentioned (although the cartoon of August 26, 2013, in which Billy refers to "Grandma Keane" and "Grandma Carne" indicates the same surnames as the author's family). The parents, Bil and Thelma (Thel), are modeled after the author and his wife, Thelma Carne Keane. Their four children, Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and P.J., are fictionalized composites of the Keanes' five children. With the exception of P.J., no characters have aged appreciably during the run of the strip.
Bil (named Steve in the early years of the strip) works in an office, and he is believed to be a cartoonist, most likely based on the writer of the strip because he draws large circles on paper, presumably a cartoon version of the Family Circus. Some panels refer to Bil as a veteran of World War II.
Thel is a college-educated homemaker. The Los Angeles Times ran a feature article on the Thelma character when Keane updated her hairstyle in 1996.
The eldest child is seven-year-old Billy. A recurring theme involves Billy as a substitute cartoonist for a Sunday strip. The strips purportedly drawn by Billy are crudely rendered and reflect his understanding of the world and his sense of humor. The first use of this gag by Keane was in This Week magazine in 1962 in a cartoon titled "Life in Our House" that attributed the childish drawings to his six-year-old son Chris. Keane also modeled Billy after his eldest son Glen, now a prominent Disney animator.
The character of five-year-old Dolly was modeled after Keane's daughter and eldest child Gayle. Dolly was a nickname that Thelma Keane called little girls.
The character of three-year-old Jeffy was named and modeled after Keane's youngest child Jeff.
The comic family's youngest child P.J. (Peter John) was introduced through a series of cartoons about the mother's pregnancy that culminated in the baby's birth on August 1, 1962. P.J. grows to be about one year old and rarely speaks.
Extended family
Bil's mother (Florence, but usually called Grandma) appears regularly in the strip and apparently lives near the family. Bil's father (Al, called Granddad by the kids and Bil) is dead but occasionally appears in the strip as a spirit or watching from heaven. Bil's father (as a spirit) plays a prominent role in the TV special A Family Circus Christmas. Al died after the launch of the feature. However, in the November 25, 2012 strip, it was indicated that he had died before Jeffy was born, although the character Al was featured in strips prior to Granddad's death.
Thel's parents are both alive but apparently live several hundred miles away in a rural area. Strips have mentioned them living in Iowa, but one 2007 strip mentioned Florida. The family occasionally visits them for a vacation.
Pets
The family pets are two dogs—a Labrador named Barfy and a shaggy-haired mutt named Sam, a stray that the children brought home on January 26, 1970—and an orange tabby cat named Kittycat.
Other characters
Morrie is a playmate of Billy, and the only recurring black character in the strip. Keane created the character in 1967 as a tribute to his close friend Morrie Turner, creator of Wee Pals. Mr. Horton is Bil's boss.