Christopher Browne

1952 - 2023

Christopher Browne
February 4, 2023
Former Wilton resident Christopher Browne has died at the age of 70.
Sioux Falls, SD-Chris Browne, a former Wilton resident and internationally- syndicated cartoonist, died in Sioux Falls on February 4, 2023, after a long illness. He was 70 years old.
Christopher Kelly Browne was born in South Orange, NJ, on May 16, 1952.
He was the second child of Joan Kelly Browne and Richard A. Browne.
In 1957, the Browne family moved to Wilton, where Chris attended public schools, graduating from Wilton High School in 1970. He briefly attended Philadelphia College of Art, but he mainly studied with his father, the iconic cartoonist Dik Browne, working in the family business.
Aside from assisting on illustrating the comics Hi and Lois and Hagar the Horrible, Chris worked for the National Lampoon magazine and was for years a featured cartoonist at Playboy magazine. He published two children's books, Santa Confidential in 2010 and The Monster who Ate the State in 2014.
The three Browne siblings-Chris, Robert (Chance) and Sally-- had moved to Sarasota, Florida, by the mid-1980s to live near their parents and to work on the cartoon strips Hagar the Horrible and Hi and Lois. [Hi and Lois is produced jointly with the family of the late Mort Walker. Brian Walker is a longtime Wilton resident.]
Chris married Carroll Smith in Sarasota, where the couple remained until moving to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2005. From there, Chris created numerous drawings and paintings in addition to the cartooning work he assumed following Dik Browne's 1989 death. He continued to be the 'face' of Hagar the Horrible until health issues impeded his mobility.
Family and friends remember Chris as immensely talented, witty, intelligent and congenial. "He was a gentle genius, just the most charming person you could ever meet," his brother Chance said. "By the time he was ten, he could draw as well as any of our family's many professional artist friends. He really was a prodigy and a born cartoonist. He could make me laugh harder than anyone else ever could, and I'll miss him forever."
Chris is survived by his brother, Chance Browne, of Wilton; their sister, Sally Browne-Boeras, of Sarasota; sister-in-law Debra Browne; brother-in-law, Rico Boeras; stepdaughter, Ashley Smith; and numerous nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Carroll.
The Browne family is discussing plans for a memorial to be held later this year.