Pierre Culliford, who created the blue, four-fingered, fun-loving cartoon dwarfs known as the Smurfs, died Thursday. He was 64.
Culliford, who drew under the name "Peyo," died at his home in Brussels one month after the publication of his 16th Smurf album, said his publisher, Editions Lombard SA. He died of a heart attack.Culliford drew his first Smurfs in 1958, basing them loosely on the trolls and midgets of Nordic fairy tales.
The Smurfs' adventures have since been translated into more than 20 languages, become household toys and gadgets, and starred in films.
View Comments
With Georges Remy, creator of the Tintin albums, Culliford turned comic-strip drawing into a peculiar Belgian art form. Remy died of cancer in 1983.