Donato, Andy b. 1937

Andy Donato joined the Toronto Telegram in 1961 as a graphic artist in the promotion department. In 1968, he was appointed art director and began cartooning on a part-time basis. After The Telegram ceased publication in 1971, he joined The Toronto Sun. In 1974, he started cartooning full-time. He is well known among Sun readers for his signature image of a bird, "Donato's bird." Some of his most famous work was done when Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister, and Joe Clark was leader of the official opposition. As the two leaders battled it out, Donato lampooned both of them extensively. For years, Joe Clark was drawn wearing children's mittens (attached to his suit with strings), a reference to the time his luggage went missing on a trip to Israel. The final cartoon of the series appeared after Trudeau's airplane was hit by a bus while on the tarmac. It showed a puzzled Trudeau staring at the bus while one of his aides held up Clark's mittens and said: "We don't know who the driver was, but we found his mittens." It is said that many Canadian politicians consider it an honour if Donato pillories them. When he drew a picture of Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish with both feet stuck in her mouth - Parrish requested the original drawing. According to his friends, Donato's philosophy was: "The first time any politician is targeted, he, or she, gets the original drawing on request." Donato formally retired from the Sun in 1997 but continues to draw for the Sun chain on a contract basis that pays him roughly $400 a cartoon.