HEMET, Calif. -- Henning Mikkelsen, creator of the wordless cartoon strip 'Ferd'nand,' which evoked smiles about the little travails of middle-class American and European life, died of heart disease. He was 67.
The coroner's office announced the cause of death Tuesday. Mikkelsen was found slumped over a chair at his desk Friday.
Born in Denmark, Mikkelsen created 'Ferd'nand' in his native country in 1937. The 'silent strip' contained no words. It appeared in 200 newspapers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico and South America.
During World War II the strip was banned from German papers by the Nazis because the round-nosed, wide-eyed main character's moustache too closely resembled Adolf Hitler's.
Mikkelson lived in the desert community of Hemet for the past 33 years. For the last 12 years, Al Plastino drew Mikkelsen's ideas in collaboration with the ailing cartoonist.
Before 'Ferd'nand,' Mikkelsen created animated cartoons for films and in the mid-1940s he did a comic strip based on Nordic myths that appeared in Danish papers.
He is survived by his wife, Jessie, three daughters and a son. Graveside services were scheduled Thursday.
