Les Zakarin was born Lester Sam Zakarin on March 17, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. The birth information is from the New York, New York Birth Index, at Ancestry.com, and Army draft card. Zakarin’s full name was on his Social Security application.
In the 1930 United States Census, Zakarin was the only child of Alex, a Russian immigrant, and Mollie. They lived in Brooklyn at 334 Bradford Street.
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The 1940 census said Zakarin was the oldest of three boys. The Zakarins were Brooklyn residents at the same address.
Zakarin attended the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and graduated in 1947. His classmates included Jon D’Agostino, Hal Fromm, John Romita and Herbert Tauss.
The Palette yearbook
On March 24, 1947, Zakarin signed his draft card. His Brooklyn address was 1398 East 49th Street. He was employed at the Pyramid Belt Co. in Manhattan. Zakarin’s description was five feet seven inches, 130 pounds, with brown eyes and hair.
In Alter Ego, #9 July 2001, Roy Thomas interviewed John Romita who explained how he got into comics.
RT: You mentioned at the 1995 Stan Lee Roast in Chicago how in ’49 you started out penciling for a guy who was really an inker, but who pretended to Stan that he was penciling material which you ghosted for him. Don’t you think it's time you finally told us who that artist was?ROMITA: The reason I never gave his name was, I didn’t want to embarrass him. His name was Lester Zakarin. I met him for the first time in forty years in 1999, at a convention in New York, and he told me he wasn’t offended by any of the interviews I’d given. I’d always say that this artist I was ghosting for would tell Stan he could pencil, but actually I’d do the penciling for him, and he just inked my pencils.But Stan was one of the few editors who’d ask guys to make changes. And when he asked Lester Zakarin to change something, he would panic. So I would go into the city with him and I’d wait at the New York Public Library, which was very close to where Timely was, at the Empire State Building. Zakarin would get the corrections from Stan and tell him, “I can’t draw in front of people. It has to be absolutely quiet. I’m going to a friend’s office. I’ll do these corrections and bring them back in the afternoon.” Then he’d meet me at the library, and I’d do the corrections, and then he’d go back to Stan. [laughs]
Zakarin’s comics credits are at the Grand Comics Database and Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999.
According to the 1950 census, Zakarin was a cartoonist at a magazine publisher. He earned $2,000 in 1949. Zakarin lived with his parents in Brooklyn at 1398 East 48th Street.
Zakarin, a registered voter, was a Democrat.
In 1952 Zakarin and Iris F. Schulman obtained marriage license number 16084 in Manhattan.
During the Korean War, Zakarin was listed in the 1953 Augusta, Georgia city directory.
Art Director & Studio News, September 1954, said Zakarin was a winner in the Annual June Exhibition of the Cartoonists and Illustrators School.
The 1954 Brooklyn telephone directory listed Zakarin and his wife at 642 East 92 Street.
According to the Board of Elections in the City of New York, List of Enrolled Voters for the Year 1956–1957, Borough of Brooklyn, Zakarin and his wife were Democrats who resided at 446 Kingston Avenue. The 1962 Brooklyn directory had the same address.
A 1969 issue of the University of the State of New York Bulletin listed Zakarin in the category of Registered Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
Zakarin, Lester Samuel (PE), 1841 Central Park Ave, Yonkers
The American Society of Civil Engineers Directory 1972 included Zakarin.
Zakarin, Lester S. (62, A.M. 62) Proj Engr, Malcolm Pirnie Inc, 226 Westchester Ave, White Plains NY, 10604, (1853 Central Park Ave, Yonkers NY) (28) CO SM
The photograph below is from an event in the early 1970s. (Visit the Tripod site of Yosi Jeff Zakarin: click Zakarins Unite!!! A Family History Site; click Photographs; click Historical Photographs From 1941 to 1980, automatic download.)
In 1994 Zakarin was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Zakarin passed away on January 30, 2003, in New York. He was laid to rest at Mount Ararat Cemetery.
Related Post
Further Reading
Alter Ego #27, August 2003, preview has first two pages of Zakarin’s interview
(Next post on Monday: The Forbidden Planet Halloween Ads, 1982–1989)
