Dale Messick – the star behind Brenda Starr

Featured image by Chicago Tribune/AP; web source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35837-2005Apr7.html?nav=E8

During a 1990s interview, Dale Messick, already in her 80s, commented that she was dating three men at the time. She explained, “At my age, it takes three men for a good date.”

This woman who posted photos of herself on a motorcycle broke ground for female cartoonists by creating a heroine character, a career woman who went from exotic adventures to steamy romances. For more than 40 years, Messick penned “Brenda Starr, Reporter,” a comic strip which at its height in the 1950s appeared in 250 newspapers nationwide. The strip was unique in that its main character was a modern, active, career woman.

Dalia Messick was born April 11, 1906 in South Bend. After the family moved to Hobart, Dalia graduated from Hobart High School. Some of her artwork can be found in HHS yearbooks, and she later donated a framed comic strip to the school.

After briefly studying art in Chicago, Messick unsuccessfully submitted several ideas for comic strips. Feeling that editors were against female cartoonists, she began signing her work “Dale” and the name stuck.

Messick then submitted an idea for a heroine, a female bandit named Brenda Starr. The character was modeled after film star Rita Hayworth and named for 1930s debutante Brenda Frazier. An assistant editor at the Chicago Tribune suggested Messick make Starr a news reporter.

Messick penned Brenda Starr alone from 1940 to 1980. The intrepid reporter’s run of adventures and loves ended Jan. 2, 2011.

Although Brenda Starr did not make her creator rich, Messick and Brenda Starr did gain some national recognition:

• On April 25, 1955, Messick appeared on the TV game show “What’s My Line.”
• On May 6, 1960, Messick appeared on TV’s “To Tell The Truth.”
• “Brenda Starr, Reporter” was one of 20 comic strips honored in a special release of commemorative postage stamps in 1995. At the time, Messick was the only living creator of a comic strip chosen.
• Brenda Starr was made into a 1989 movie starring Brooke Shields in the lead role.
• In 2003 the Effanbee Doll Co. introduced a 16-inch Brenda Starr collectors doll, featuring 1940s. fashions inspired by the comic strip.

Twice married and divorced, Messick had one daughter, Starr. Later in life, she moved to California to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren.

Dale Messick died April 6, 2005 in Sonoma County, Calif., at age 98.

By Steve Euvino (Sources include Wikipedia)