Robert “Buck” Brown was an iconic and prolific cartoonist whose thousands of pieces appeared in Playboy, Esquire, Ebony and Jet. “Buck’s cartoons ranged widely in subject matter from the sexual revolution, golfing and westerns to parodies of figures from history and literature,” wrote Playboy cartoon coordinator Jennifer Thiele in an online memorial after his death in July 2007. “His cartoons depicting relations between black and white Americans are perhaps the most poignant. As an African-American, his insight and humor were an important contribution to the magazine during and after the American civil rights movement.”

This bio was written at the time of Robert “Buck” Brown’s inauguration into the 2022 Illini Media Hall of Fame.