Leopoldo Morey y Pena was born October 24, 1899 in Lima, Peru. His parents were Mr. & Mrs. Adolfo Morey. They were an aristocratic family with European education. His father was an industrialist. They had two children, Leopoldo and his younger sister, Estefania. They lived at 340 Paseo Colon, Lima, Peru.
His parents frowned upon his ambition to be an artist. Instead of going to art school he was sent to America in August 1918 to study engineering at Louisiana State University. He lived at 561 Middle Street Baton Rouge, LA.
During the World War he registered with the US draft board as a citizen of Peru. He was recorded to be five-foot nine, medium built, with brown eyes and "Negro" hair. He did not serve in the military.
He graduated college in 1922 with a degree in engineering, but he was also the chief illustrator of the college year book.
After graduation he worked in New Orleans as an engineer.
In 1925 he returned to South America and worked as a commercial illustrator for a Buenos Aires newspaper. In 1926 he returned to America when he was hired as a graphic artist for an unknown New Orleans newspaper.
In the Summer of 1929 he married Josephine "Josie" Vivian Morrison, who was born in Louisiana on July 4, 1904. After the wedding they visited Lima, Peru, and stopped off in Havana Cuba. Afterwards they moved to New York City and lived at 3758 81st Street in Queens, NY, which they rented monthly for $55.
Leo Morey only applied to U. S. Immigration for working papers as a Permanent Resident. He did not apply to become a Naturalized Citizen, and as such he always remained a citizen of Peru. By marrying a U.S. citizen his legal status as a Resident Alien improved.
On January 8, 1931 their son was born in NYC and then died seven hours later. While recuperating from the complicated childbirth his wife died three months later on April 27, 1931.
In 1932 he moved to41-46 50th Street in Woodside, Queens, NY.
During the 1930s he sold freelance story illustrations and cover paintings to Amazing Stories and Astounding. Although he is primarily known for his artistic contributions to the field of science fiction, Leo Morey also painted covers for Secret Agent-X, Short Stories, Terror Tales, Thrilling Detective, Thrilling Mystery, Western Aces, Wild West Stories and Complete Novel magazine.
In 1934 he rented an art studio space at 66 Water Street in Lower Manhattan.
During WWII he was too old for military service, so he was among the few pre-war pulp illustrators to continue working during the war years. He drew interior story illustrations for Amazing, Analog, Detective Novel Magazine, Dime Sports, Popular Football, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, and Science Fiction Quarterly.
After the war he was a pencil artist for many golden age comic books. He worked with Funnies Incorporated for Fiction House's Planet Comics, and he drew Starling Comics and Thrilling Comics for Ned Pines' Better Publications.
In the 1950s he worked for Standard comic books as a penciller, and for Atlas Comic Group's Forbidden Worlds and Adventures Into The Unknown. He also drew Beware! for Trojan Comics.
According to the artist, "I think the best cover I ever illustrated was for Amazing Stories Beyond the Planetoids, by Edwin K. Sloat. My favorite author is Bob Olsen. I also like the work of A. Hyatt Verrill, Dr. E. E. Smith, and Harl Vincent."
In the 1960s his last few illustrations appeared in the digest magazines Amazing Stories and Analog, as well as in men's adventure magazines, such as Man-To-Man, Peril, and Untamed.
Leo Morey died at the age of sixty-six in 1965.
© David Saunders 2009 |
