Frances Crosby as portrayed by a student from the Immaculate Conception School of
Jamaica Estates, NY.
My name is Frances Crosby but you can call me Fanny. I had wanted to become a singer and actress in my youth but was unsuccessful at it. I married Thomas Crosby and we moved to Richmond Hill in 1900. When our son Percy was born I was overjoyed because I remember when I was a teenager I had gone to see a fortune-teller. She said, "Young lady, you are going to give birth to a boy who will do something with his hands that will win fame on two continents. Your boy will be a genius!"
I taught Percy that he was born with a divinely inspired mission in life. At first it did not seem that way, he was always getting into such mischief. I noticed that he loved to draw. He even drew on the picket fences! His talent lead to a career as an illustrator and cartoonist. He began working at an early age for various newspapers drawing political cartoons and comic strips. On March 15, 1923 he drew a comical figure he called Skippy Skinner for Life magazine. Skippy was a small blond hair child who was a real rascal. He was always getting into some mischief with the other little boys. Many of Skippy's adventures were based on Percy's memories growing up in Richmond Hill. Skippy became very popular throughout the country. Percy wrote novels about Skippy and they even made a Skippy movie based upon his books. The 1931 movie entitled Skippy opened and was a big hit. The part of Skippy was played by Jackie Cooper a famous child actor of the time who was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award but lost to Lionel Barrymore. But the director of the film Norman Taurog won an Academy Award for that year.
Percy became very rich and famous. He began painting and had his work exhibited in European and American galleries. A number of his paintings were even purchased by the Louvre in Paris and the British Museum. He was acclaimed on both continents as was prophesied. The Skippy name was taken and used by the peanut butter company and is still used today. Things began to go badly for Percy. He had problems because of his political cartoons. He made a number of enemies and had problems with his taxes and the government. Eventually he was placed in a sanitarium at King's Park, Long Island and spent 16 years there when he died on December 8, 1964 and was buried in a nearby cemetery. It is hoped that someday he will be brought here to Maple Grove and placed in the family grave.
Presented May 22, 2004 by The Richmond Hill Historical Society, Maple Grove Cemetery, and The Immaculate Conception School of Jamaica Estates, NY (Dr. Charlene Jaffie, principal).
Copyright © 2004 Carl Ballenas & Nancy Cataldi.
No claim to Old Kew Gardens [.com] color photograph.
No claim to Old Kew Gardens [.com] color photograph.
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