Comics: Bernard Kantor, Little-Known Contributor to Golden Age Superman

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 said Bernard Kantor was an “Early science fiction fan & writer who sold some plots to Jerry Siegel.” The search for Kantor was told in Brad Ricca’s 2013 book, Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—the Creators of Superman. Publicity for the book appeared in the Cleveland Jewish News, June 20, 2013 and The Beat, August 11, 2013. Jerry Siegel’s October 8, 1939 letter to Kantor was reproduced in The Beat. The letter included a fifty-dollar bill as payment for a Superman plot. Ricca spent several years tracking down Kantor who passed away on January 13, 1967. He said the death certificate had the names of Kantor’s parents, Max and Sophie Kanter. This was just enough information to search for them and add details about their family.

The Rhode Island Marriage Registration, at Ancestry.com, said Max Kantrovitz, age 22, and Sophie Peskin, 18, were Russian immigrants who married on April 30, 1908 in Providence. Their first child, Louis, was born on January 7, 1909 in Providence.

The 1910 United States Census counted the “Canter” family (lines 67 to 69) in Brooklyn, New York at 448 Bradford Street. Max operated a business making caps.

At Ancestry.com, the New York, New York Birth Index has a Bernard Kantor born on September 27, 1912 in Brooklyn. His surname may have been misspelled. Kantor’s World War II draft cards had different dates. Almost four years later, his sister, Dorothy, was born on September 8, 1916 in Albany, New York.

In Super Boys, Ricca wrote “... a look at the 1920 census reveals a Bernard Kenton with the same parents living in Brooklyn, New York.” I have not found that enumeration sheet at Ancestry.com.

At some point the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where Nathan was born on October 27, 1922.

The 1927 yearbook, The Hour Glass, was published by John Adams High and included a photograph of Louis.

Jerry Siegel’s letter in Amazing Stories, August 1929, mentioned Kantor. At the time Siegel, born October 17, 1914, was two months shy of turning fifteen. At an early age, Siegel met Kantor who was two years older. It’s not clear if Siegel was in high school in 1929. He graduated in 1934 at age nineteen.

Ricca wrote “At the same time, a “Bernard Kenton”[sic] shows up in Cleveland as a boarder ...”. Below is the 1930 census sheet with a seventeen-year-old Bernard Kentor on line 14. He was a laborer in street construction. It appears to be Kantor. It’s not known if he graduated high school.

Kantor’s parents and siblings have not yet been found in the 1930 census. The 1930 Cleveland city directory listed Max Kanter at 3455 East 121st Street. He was employed at the Artcraft Cap Company. The 1932 directory had the same information plus Louis as a salesman at Artcraft. There was a Bernard Kanter, a stockman, who lived at 1874 East 20th Street.

On January 4, 1934, Max Kanter married Mollie (Silverman) Stiel on January 4, 1934 in Brooklyn. (Max’s first wife, Sophie, may have been the Cleveland State Hospital inmate counted in the 1930 and 1940 censuses.) The 1934 Cleveland city directory listed Max, Mollie and Louis Kanter at 12645 Barrington Avenue. Max was the Artcraft manager and Louis a helper.

In the 1939 directory, Max, Mollie, Louis and Nathan Kanter were at 12406 Edmonton Avenue. 

 

Kantor’s letter appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 12, 1939.

Editor Plain Dealer—Sir: Prof. Walter B. Pitkin’s smashing indictment of American youth, portrayed as plagued with a “horrible, hideous, contemptible lethargy” in the Plain Dealer recently, has awakened the writer out of his dream into the world of macabre realism.

May I suggest to Cleveland young citizens that our habit of waiting for a mythical prosperity, or depending upon the federal government to find us jobs, has as much effect upon reality as the chant of a voodoo doctor. Let’s get out of the fantastic into the facts!

Prof. Pitkin has a recommendation which appears rational, intelligent and practical. Let us, the unemployed youth of Cleveland, roll up our sleeves and transform that stretch of waste land between Cleveland and Elyria into a streamlined community which can support itself without being a burden to taxpayers and without sinking into the slough of morbid pessimism.

Bernard Kantor.
Cleveland.

Louis married Clara Bornstein on December 25, 1939.

Kantor has not yet been found in the 1940 census. His father, step-mother, two step-brothers and Nathan lived at 18401 Muskoka Avenue. Kantor’s father operated a retail fruit store. About two months after the census enumeration, Dorothy married Irving Sazzman on June 16.

 

On October 16, 1940, Kantor signed his draft card. His Cleveland address was 12329 Superior Avenue. Kantor’s birth date was September 12, 1912. Sam Block was his employer. Kantor named his brother, Louis, as next of kin. (Louis signed his card on the same date; Max on April 26, 1942; and Nathan on June 30, 1942.) Kantor was described as five feet seven inches, 155 pounds, with brown eyes and hair.

Kantor, spelled Kanter, registered again on January 7, 1942. His first card was cancelled. He lived at 1754 East 19th Street. Kantor’s birth date was September 17, 1912. He named his father as next of kin. Kantor was classified 4-F and did not serve during the war.

The Plain Dealer, July 25, 1949, published Kantor’s letter.

Editor Plain Dealer—Sir: In regard to the possibility of the Cleveland Indians changing ownership, Bill Veeck has publicly stated for the record “if a buyer came along with the right kind of offer a deal could be made.”

Sports Writer Gordon Cobbledick has estimated that $3,000,000 could probably induce Mr. Veeck to relinquish control of the tribe. Since bankers and other “groups” regard this figure with financial trepidation, may I offer the following solution:

By subscription, available to baseball fans throughout Ohio exclusively, the sum of $3,000,000 to purchase the tribe could be raised with the celebrity of Satchel Paige striking out an opponent. Since this represents a democratic enterprise, no single individual could subscribe to more than 1,000 shares.

Ohio fans support the Indians. Why nor afford them the thrill of ownership as well?

J. B. Kantor
3126 Prospect Avenue.

According to the 1950 census, Kantor’s father was a widower at 2733 Hampshire Road. His household included Dorothy, a divorcee, and Nathan, who, months later, married Milgreta Shapiro on September 15. Kantor, a self-employed photographer (line 21), lived at 3126 Prospect Avenue. The 1951 city directory had the same address.

The Plain Dealer, December 29, 1950, printed a classified advertisement for “J. Bernard Kantor”.

In 1951, Kantor’s father married Esther Phinick on May 8.

Kantor placed Success Society of America classified advertisements in Popular Science for February and August 1951.

Kantor was the subject a front page investigative report in the Plain Dealer, February 18, 1952. Part two appeared the following day. The paper said

The Success Society of America, latest promotion of G. Bernard Kantor, sidewalk photographer and promoter extraordinary, has a Better Business Bureau history going back to 1942 as a continuation of the National Advisory Institute.

Kantor claimed Siegel as one of the Society’s sponsors. Signing up for the courses included a three-dollar registration fee plus three-dollars a month. Some of the printed matter said

... in a short time you can compare favorably with the most profound followers of erudition.

... Money. You will be able to learn so quickly that in a short while, when you have mastered 10 to 30 entirely different methods of making money, your pockets and bank account should be bulging with greenbacks!

The paper said Kantor was a “sidewalk photographer working Playhouse Square and other busy corners.” The Better Business Bureau (BBB) had four files on Kantor. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order stating Kantor had lied about his qualifications as a securities appraiser.

Kantor’s Futurist Society would teach “secret methods of mental power and financial strategy hitherto restricted to private psychology classes and Wall Street leaders.”

Kantor’s sidewalk photography business was called Classic Photos. It was mentioned in a BBB 1946 file about photography groups not delivering photographs to clients. In 1948 Kantor tried mail order orchids and got in trouble with the state of Ohio for not collecting sales tax.

Kantor’s business address was often a post office box number. One time he used his attorney’s office address. The paper said Kantor “lives in a rooming house at 3126 Prospect Avenue S. E.”

In December 1951 Kantor tried to raise $150,000 to start a comic book company. Once again he claimed Siegel as a sponsor who had provided a noncommittal letter with an estimate to form such a publishing company.

The Plain Dealer, July 24, 1955, published this note.

Editor Plain Dealer—Sir: We, the “Organized Unemployed of Cleveland,” demand either immediate, profitable work or a 100% increase of relief assistance and facilities.

Charles Mondelo, President
G. Bernard Kantor, Treasurer
Chas. M. Gorsuch, Secretary

The Plain Dealer, December 13, 1956, said Kantor had six tax liens for the years 1951 through 1954. At the time his address was 2573 East 55th Street.

Kantor, as Bernard D. Kantor, was mentioned in Billboard, June 3, 1957; June 24, 1957; September 9, 1957; September 30, 1957; November 4, 1957; February 24, 1958; March 3, 1958; April 14, 1958; and November 3, 1958.

The Plain Dealer, January 12, 1960, said Cleveland residents received a yellow card, about the size of a postcard, from “American Moon Campaigns, 310 Caxton Building.” The campaign asked for money to save the earth by exploring the moon. The business address belong to an answering service hired by “B. Kantor.”

At some point, Kantor moved to New York. The Writer’s Digest, June 1960, published his letter.

For quite some time we have been trying to contact Jerry Siegel, formerly of 50 Knightsbridge Rd., Great Neck, Long Island, New York. Mr. Siegel happens merely to be none other than “the writer with the $100,000,000 brain—the original creator, with Joe Schuster, of Superman.

We are in possession of Siegel’s manuscript, “Miracles on Antares” (the origin of which is described in the June, 1958 issue of Future Science Fiction Magazine) and which Nicholas Diamond assures us is “eminently appropriate” for immediate motion-picture production.

Must we call Superman personally, in order to locate his own creator? Can readers of Writer’s Digest help?

G. Bernard Kantor
Ries-Kantor Promotions
533 W. 112th Street
New York 25, N. Y

Nearly six years later the same letter appeared in Amazing Stories, February 1966.

Kantor’s father passed away in January 1964. An obituary appeared in the Plain Dealer, January 24, 1964.

Max Kanter, beloved husband of Ester, dearly devoted father of Louis of Chattanooga, Tenn., Nathan, Bernard Kanter and Mrs. Dorothy Sazzman, dear brother of Jake of New York City, Mrs. Rose Smith, and loving grandfather. Services at Berkowitz-Kumin Inc. Memorial Chapel, 1985 S. Taylor Rd., Cleveland Heights, Friday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. Interment Workmen’s Circle Cemetery. Family at the residence, 2749 Hampshire Rd., Cleveland Heights. Member of the Workman’s Circle, Branch 559.

On January 13, 1967, Kantor passed away at a long-term care facility in Cleveland. An obituary has not been found. He was laid to rest at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery.

Kantor’s sister, Dorothy died on January 12, 1983 in Ashtabula, Ohio. Louis’s death was in Miami, Florida on April 28, 1997. Two days after Nathan’s death, the Plain Dealer, April 29, 2009, published an obituary.

Nathan Kanter, beloved husband of the late Milgreta “Milly” (nee Shapiro). Loving father of Sandra (Jeffrey) Fine, Debra (Don) Posner and Garry Kanter. Devoted grandfather of Chad, Kasey, T.J. and Darcy Fine, Jason (Genelle) Denzin, Brandon (Edyta) Halprin, Evan (Brandy) Halprin, and Daniel Stewart. Great grandfather of Nick, Paxten and Raen. Dear brother of the late Louis, Bernard and Dorothy Kanter. Services will be held Wednesday, April 29, at 2:00 p.m. at the Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel, 1985 S. Taylor Cleveland Heights. Interment Mt. Olive Cemetery. Family will receive friends at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. J. Fine, 6801 Silkwood Ln., Solon. Wednesday following services until 8:00 p.m.; Thursday 2–8 p.m. Friends who wish may contribute to the American Cancer Society, of the Jewish War Veterans c/o D. Kaufman, 2292 Ashurst Rd., University Hts., OH 44118.

(Next post on Monday: Art Direction 1964)

Comics: Betty Bentley, a Letterer and Her Talented Family

March is Women’s History Month

 

Daily Progress
 

Betty Bentley was born Elizabeth Marshall Burnley on August 2, 1916 in Manhattan, New York according to the New York, New York Birth Index at Ancestry.com. Her full name was in an obituary and at Find a Grave. Bentley was the youngest of four siblings born to Martin Dupree Burnley and Bessie Allen Birdsong, Mississippi natives who married on August 14, 1901 in St. Joseph, Michigan. In Chicago, Illinois, Martine was born on May 30, 1902 and Dupree John “Ray” on November 15, 1903. (The Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index, at Ancestry.com, recorded the name Herbert Lee Burnley with that date. Some documents had the birth year 1904.) In New York, Hardin John “Jack” was born on January 11, 1911.

The 1910 United States Census counted the Burnley family of four in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin was a cotton salesman. The budding talent of Martine was mentioned in the Atlanta Constitution (Georgia), February 16, 1910.

The musicale given by Mrs. Eugenia R. Clarke in honor of her two 7-year-old pupils Saturday at 3:30 p. m., Miss Carolina Shivers, assisted by Miss Martine Burnley, was a pronounced success.

Martin moved his family to New York, New York where he was a broker. Martine, a week shy of twelve, and Norton Ritcher were the youngest dancers to participate in the Castle Dance Carnival at Madison Square Garden.

Photograph detail, New York American, May 24, 1914

 

In the 1915 New York state census, the five Burnley members plus a nurse and servant resided at 490 Riverside Drive. The 1917 New York City directory listed Martin as a manager at E. F. Hutton & Company.

A year and three weeks after Betty’s birth, her father died on August 23, 1917. An obituary appeared in the Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal, August 24, 1917.

M. D. Burnley, Cotton of New York, Well Known Here, Is Dead
Mr. M. Burnley, a prominent cotton man, who for eight years lived in Atlanta as the representative of prominent cotton brokerage concerns of New Orleans, Chicago and New York, died at noon Thursday in New York City, according to news received here.

It was said of Mr. Burnley by Atlanta cotton men that he was the highest-salaried employe of any house connected with the New York cotton exchange. From the time he left Atlanta in the year 1912, up to the time of his death, Mr. Burnley was manager of the department of E. F. Hutton of New York.

Mr. Burnley was a native of Hazlehurst, Miss. He had been in the cotton brokerage business for many years. Among the firms with which he has been connected are the Atwood-Violet company, of New Orleans; Ware Leland Co. and Dick Brothers Co. During his residence in Atlanta Mr. Burnley was the Atlanta represetnative [sic] of the Gibert Clay Co. and Dick Brothers Co.

Mr. Burnley had been in ill health for about a year. He had an operation last winter, got better, took a trip to Florida but grew worse on his return to New York. He leaves a wife and four children, Martine, Dupree, Harkness [sic] and Bessie [sic] Burnley.

Martine was in the chorus of the 1917 Broadway show Words and Music. In 1918 she performed in Let’s Go, and sang in the chorus of The Canary. 

 

New York Evening Journal
February 3, 1919

 

At age sixteen Martine’s photograph appeared in the August 1918 issue of Theatre magazine. She was in the chorus of Hitchy-Koo. Coincidentally, Hardin’s future wife, Dolores Farris, appeared in the 1923 production of Hitchy-Koo.

Martine was in the ensemble of She’s a Good Fellow which was reviewed in Variety, May 9, 1919 and Billboard, May 17, 1919.

Betty was almost three-and-a-half-years-old in the 1920 census (line 10). The household included her mother, Martine (an artist’s model) and Dupree (a broker’s clerk). Their address was 620 Riverside Drive. Hardin was with his paternal grandmother and aunts in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. When the 1920 New York City directory was released, the Burnleys’ address was 640 West 139th Street.

In 1921, Martine sang “Let Cutie Cut Your Cuticle” in the The Broadway Whirl. The New York Star, June 6, 1924, said Martine had an engagement with the Ziegfeld Follies.

Hardin rejoined the family in time for the 1925 New York state census (lines 10 to 14). Martine’s occupation was artist; her siblings were in school. The family lived at 201 West 84th Street in Manhattan.

Martine brought fourteen-year-old Hardin to the attention of King Features Syndicate in 1925. In Comic Book Marketplace #21, January-February 1993, Charlie Roberts interviewed Hardin who talked about his time watching the cartoonists at King Features Syndicate.

I remember there were five or six cartoonists working there at the time. Cliff Sterrett, George McManus, Walter Hoban and Harry Hershfield worked there and had their own offices. The art department was a separate room.

I often showed my stuff to the cartoonists in the office in order to get pointers and suggestions. That was one of the things I was supposed to do in order to learn. I eventually helped them out by doing backgrounds, inking and so on. I did lettering for Hershfield, and for Jimmy Murphy who did “Toots and Casper”. I lettered for him on a regular basis for quite a long time, and also for Cliff Sterrett who did “Polly and Her Pals”. At times, artists would need to re-use old strips if they were sick or way behind schedule, so I would letter new dialogue balloons and paste them over the old balloons on the art.

In 1928 Martine and Dupree sailed with cast members of Good News for performances in Australia. 

 

The Argus (Melbourne, Australia), June 22, 1928

 

The Dominion (New Zealand), June 30, 1928, said

“Good News” in Melbourne.
“Good News,” the Fuller’s new musical comedy production, was produced in Melbourne on Saturday.

The imported members of the company are Martine Burnley, Edith Murray, Viola Savoy, Dorothy Merritt, Victoria Regal, Sam Critcherson, Hal Baker, George Smithson, and Dick Bell.

It is a story of college life, and the characters are chiefly collegians.

The Dominion, August 18, 1928, put the spotlight on Martine who had already returned home.

One of the principal parts in “Good News,” Sir Benjamin and Mr. John Fuller’s new musical comedy, which has made such a great hit in Melbourne, is played by Miss Martine Burnley, a charming young American actress, who was born in Richmond, Virginia [sic], so, as she remarks, “I am a true American.” The little artist, although very young, has played numbers of splendid parts on the American stage, including the title role in “No, No, Nanette.” Her last success before sailing for Australia was scored in “Broadway Whirl.” Miss Martine studied dancing under the eminent master of the Russian ballet—Ivan Turazoff—and it was owing to her ability in this direction that she secured her first important engagement. Unlike most dancers, Miss Burnley can sing and act. At an early age she won a scholarship in singing from the Opera Guild in New York, and it was this success that tempted her to adopt a stage career. She has a splendid role in “Good News,” supplying most of the sentimental interest in the musical comedy.

On the return voyage, the passenger list included birth dates: Dupree, November 15, 1904, a year younger; Martine, May 30, 1909, seven years younger! They departed Sydney on July 12, 1928 and arrived at San Francisco, California on August 3, 1928. Their address was 213 West 79th Street in New York.

In another coincidence, Hardin’s future wife, Dolores Farris, appeared in touring productions of Good News.

Washington Times (Washington, DC), March 3, 1928

New York Evening Journal, September 21, 1929
 

Beginning in 1929, Hardin drew daily sports cartoons for King Features Syndicate. (More cartoons are here.)

Ashland Times-Gazette (Ohio), July 26, 1929

 

Daily Journal (Ballston Spa, New York), November 1, 1929

 

The Cincinnati Post (Ohio), November 5, 1929, published a photograph of Martine and said

After traveling all the way to Australia as a featured member of the “Good News” company, Miss Burnley now is back in this country. She has deserted the stage for radio and is appearing on Columbia chain programs.

Radio Revue, January 1930 and

Sunday Star (Washington, DC)

November 10, 1929

Brooklyn Daily Times (New York)
December 8, 1929

In the late 1920s, Betty and her family may have moved to Queens, New York. There was a Betty Burnley named in the Daily Star, December 19, 1928, as one of the dancers in a performance by Junior High School 126. (Frank Tashlin was a student in 1927.) The Daily Star, May 17, 1929, named a Betty Burnley who was on the honor roll at Flushing High School. The Burnleys have not yet been found in the 1930 census.

On August 14, 1933, seventeen-year-old Betty and William Ettinger Bentley married in Island Park, New York. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born on July 7, 1934 in New York City. Hardin married Dolores C. Farris on May 14, 1936 in Armonk, New York. (A photograph of them was published in Batman: The Sunday Classics 1943–1946).

The society page of the Sarasota Herald (Florida), February 18, 1937, said Martine and her mother stayed at the Sarasota Terrace Hotel.

In 1940 all four Burnley siblings lived in Flushing, New York at 35-30 153rd Street. In apartment number five was their mother Bessie, commercial advertising artist Dupree, unemployed Martine (whose true age was 38), Betty (line 18) and her daughter Betsy. Betty was listed as a wife and single; apparently she was divorced. Apartment seven housed self-employed cartoonist Hardin and his wife Dolores.

After Hardin was dropped by King Features, he found work in the comic book industry. In 1939 he drew Bullet Bob which was published in Miracle Comics #4, March 1941.

At National/DC Comics, Hardin made his debut with a cover and Superman story in New York World’s Fair Comics #2, July 1940. 

 

 

In Robin Synder’s The Comics, October 2003, Betty recalled lettering comics for her brother.

My brother, Jack Burnley, asked me in 1939 if I would like to do the lettering on the Superman cartoons he was illustrating.

I had never done lettering before but I do have artistic talents so I was interested in giving it a try.

Jack was pleased with my efforts so I went to work for him in his apartment and I also kept up the files of material that might be useful.

I never worked for Detective Comics nor met any of the artists and writers but I did hear stories of them and know their names.

After a while, Starman and Batman were added to the lettering assignments. This all turned out to be a fun job for me in many ways.

Jack has a very extensive collection of real Jazz records that we listened to as we worked. My other brother, Ray, joined us and was inking in some of the backgrounds. Jack’s wife, Dolores, provided treats from the kitchen and so we were a family group and it was very pleasant working there.

And so it went for about three years. Then World War II was going on and I felt that I should contribute something to the war effort. I regretfully stopped working for Jack, became a draftsman in a Defense plant and helped to design experimental airplanes for the Navy. ...

In the same issue, Jack said

My sister, Betty Bentley, did all of the lettering in my comics work from late 1939 until the end of my Starman series in Sept. 1942. This includes The Golden Age Starman Archives and all my Superman work except the Sunday newspaper pages.

She had considerable artistic talent but was untrained and had no interest in pursuing an art career. Her lettering style was straight forward, aimed at complete legibility, with no stylistic flourishes.

It was always a pleasure working with her on the comics in my home in Flushing, N.Y.

She left the field in 1942 and became a highly successful businesswoman. ...

Action Comics #28, September 1940, courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

Hardin said it was Betty’s “... earliest lettering and, in fact, the

first she ever did. This is a little crude, as it was her first ...”

In Alter Ego #2, Autumn 1999, Roy Thomas interviewed Hardin who explained how Dupree got into comics.

He never settled into any particular art line. He was interested in fine arts. He liked the French impressionists, and he liked to do illustrations, but he was never really successful. When I left King Features and went into comics, I took him with me, and he worked as my assistant. He did penciling and inking of some of the backgrounds.

He just got into it with me; he didn’t have a regular job otherwise, and it just turned out he was able to become a successful inker. But that was only through the association with me. He knew nothing about comics otherwise.

In October 1940, Dupree and Hardin signed their draft cards. Both had the same address and worked for Detective Comics. Dupree enlisted on November 30, 1942. He married Ann McCaskie on May 5, 1945. On the marriage certificate, the couple had the same occupation, draftsman. Dupree and probably Ann attended the 1945 DC Comics Christmas party. He was identified as number twenty on the yellow guest list.

Betty has not yet been found in the 1950 census. Dupree, a cartoonist (line 13), and his wife had two children. The household included Martine. They lived in Queens, New York at 196 48th Avenue. A list of Dupree’s work is at the Grand Comics Database.

 

 

Hardin (line 21), a newspaper cartoonist, lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 1461 Brookline Boulevard. His in-laws were part of the household. The Grand Comics Database has a list of Hardin’s credits.

In the mid-1950s, Hardin moved to San Francisco. The 1958 city directory listed him at 235 Buckingham, apartment 105.

 

Martine passed away on December 25, 1956. The siblings’ mother died May 27, 1964. Less than four months later, Dupree’s death was on September 5, 1964.

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 said Betty studied at the Art Students League of New York. Who’s Who may have erred. It was Betty’s daughter, Elizabeth, who went there. Elizabeth’s marriage was reported in The New York Times, June 19, 1975.

Hardin filed his claim for Social Security benefits on December 31, 1975. At some point Betty moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1981 Hardin and his wife moved to Charlottesville.

Betty passed away on June 14, 2004 and laid to rest at Saint Georges Cemetery. The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Virginia), June 16, 2004, said

Elizabeth B. Bentley
After having received the Apostolic Blessing, Communion and the Last Rites of the Church, Mrs. Elizabeth Burnley Bentley died peacefully at home in the loving company of her family on Monday, June 14. The youngest child of Martin Dupree Burnley and his wife, Elizabeth “Bessie” Birdsong, she was born in New York on Aug. 2, 1916. She was preceded in death by her sister Martine Burnley, her brother Dupree Burnley and her niece Ann Dupree Burnley.

On Aug. 14, 1933, Elizabeth “Betty” Marshall Burnley married William Ettinger Bentley in Island Park, Long Island, N.Y., who predeceased her. They had one child, Elizabeth “Betsy” Burnley Bentley. Prior to her marriage, Betty Burnley attended Mount Saint Vincent-on-the-Hudson in Riverdale, N.Y., where, on Dec. 16, 1930, she became a convert to Catholicism and was baptized in the school chapel. Because of her beauty, her portrait was painted by Leonebel Jacobs, Dana Pond, Jonas Lee, Thomas Benton, Howard Hildebrandt, J. Knowles Hare, Howard Chandler Christie and Arthur William Brown. During “the Golden Age of Comic Strips,” she and her brother Dupree did the lettering and background artwork for their brother Jack Burnley’s acclaimed illustrations for Superman, Batman and Starman. All three are listed in Who’s Who of American Comic Books.

A week later The Observer published an obituary.

Bentley, Elizabeth Betty 87, died Monday, June 14, 2004 at her residence, after having received the Apostolic Blessing, Communion and the Last Rites of the Church. Born the youngest child of Martin Dupree Burnley and Elizabeth “Bessie” Birdsong, of New York on Aug. 2, 1916.

On Aug. 14, 1933, Elizabeth “Betty” Marshall Burnley married William Ettinger Bentley in Island Park, Long Island, N.Y., who predeceased her. During WWII, Betty became a draftsman for the Navy’s Ford Instrument Co. and designed experimental airplanes for Edo Aircraft Co. She then opened her own religious articles and church supplies business, which she ran for 30 years.

When her daughter, Elizabeth “Betsy” Burnley Bentley married in 1975 to Howard Laverne Hamilton and moved to Charlottesville. Betty left New York City and accepted the position of resident manager of Hessian Hills Apartments, where she became known as Mrs. Bentley. When her son-in-law died in 2002, she left Hessian Hills to live with her daughter. Although she developed lung cancer, she was able to stay at home due to the care of her granddaughters, daughter and family companion, Mrs. Donna Fischer, guided by Hospice of the Piedmont.

Hardin’s passing came on December 19, 2006. An obituary appeared in the Daily Progress, December 21, 2006. His wife, Dolores, died on May 21, 2003.

 

Further Reading
Todd’s Blog, Early Superman Lettering
Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999, Betty Bentley, Ray Burnley, Jack Burnley
Comic Book Marketplace #21, January–February 1993, A Conversation with Jack Burnley
Alter Ego #2, Autumn 1999, A Conversation with Jack Burnley

Alter Ego #27, August 2003, abridgment of Jack Burnley’s The Dolores Farris Story

Forebears, Winter 1973, A Royal Descent: Louis IX, King & Saint
The Hereditary Register of the United States of America 1974, Elizabeth Burnley Bentley

The Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry Lineage of Members, Elizabeth Burnley Bentley Hamilton

Related Letterer Posts

A. Machine and Royal Cartoon, Mario Acquaviva, Al Allard, Gerald Altman, Gene Barnett, Vivian Berg, Daniel Bhang, John Bulthuis, Ray Burley, Ray Burzon,

Jean Callahan, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Milton Cohen, Ellen Cole, Herb Cooper, Danny Crespi, 

Jon D’Agostino, James Daleo, Martin DeMuth, Shel Dorf, Marty Epp, Howard Ferguson, Herb Field, 

Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Louis L. Goldklang, Angelo Grasso, Anita Greene, Al Grenet, Ed Hamilton, Delores Heilman, Ray Holloway, IBM Directory, Alex Jay, Albert and Charlotte Jetter, 

Abe Kanegson, George Kapitan, Anna Kaufman, Gary Keller, Rick Keller, Nadine French King, Ralph Komisarow, Grace Kremer, Morrie Kuramoto, Al Kurzrok, 

Bob Lander, Bob Laughlin, Bob Leatherbarrow, Shelly Leferman, Len Leone, Joe Letterese, Veda Lufkin, 

Robert N. MacLeod/Leroy Lettering, Lee Maroshek, Larry Mayer, Ed McLean, Jack Meltzer, Mel Millar, Jim Novak, Bill Oakley, Ben Oda, 

Walter Palais, Stephen Palmisano, Charles Paris, Otto Pirkola, Fred Proctor, Jerry Robinson, Joe and Sam Rosen, George Roussos,

Georgette Sauterel, Ira Schnapp, Irving Settel, Rome Siemon, Artie Simek, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Herman Stackel, Stan Starkman, Daisy Swayze, Zoltan and Terry Szenics, 

Richard Deane Taylor, Alberta Tews, Matthew Tweedy, Frank Vina, George Ward, Irv Watanabe, Irving Werstein, Leo Wurtzel, John Yakata, Bill Yoshida, Bernie Zuber

 

Women in Comics Posts

Jeanne Alippe, Ruth Atkinson, Olive Bailey, Valerie Barclay, Betty Bentley, Vivian Berg, Zena Brody, Jean Callahan, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Ellen Cole, Corinne Boyd Dillon, Anahid Dinkjian, Jill Elgin,

Barbara Clark Fogel, Laura E. Foster, Evelyn Gaines aka Lynn Lovelace, Merna Gamble, Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Jane Krom Grammer, Anita Greene,

Bonnie Hano, Delores Heilman, Ray Hermann, Joye Hummel, Marjorie Wilkes Huntley, Grace Jacquet, Charlotte Jetter, 

Anna Kaufman, Bessie Mae Kelley, Nadine French King, Alice Kirkpatrick, Grace Kremer, Ada Levy,  Pauline Loth, Veda Lufkin,

Marion McDermott, Emma C. McKean, Tarpé Mills, Claire S. Moe, Phyllis Muchow, Lily Reneé, Ruth Roche, 

Georgette Sauterel, Marie Severin, Marcia Snyder, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Serena Summerfield, Daisy Swayze, Terry Szenics, Claire Szep, 

Alberta Tews, Peggy Zangerle

(Next post on Monday: Shirley Smith, a Book Jacket Designer and Lettering Artist)