Dave Berg (Brooklyn, June 12, 1920 – May 17, 2002) was an American cartoonist, most noted for his five decades of work in Mad of which The Lighter Side of... was the most famous.
Berg showed early artistic talents, attending Pratt Institute when he was 12 years old, and later studying at Cooper Union. He served a period of time in the Army Air Corps. In 1940, he joined Will Eisner's studio, where he wrote and drew for the Quality Comics line. Berg's work also appeared in Dell Comics and Fawcett Publications, typically on humorous back-up features. Beginning in the mid-1940s, he worked for several years with Stan Lee on comic books at Timely Comics (now known as Marvel Comics), ranging from Combat Kelly and The Ringo Kid to Tessie the Typist. He also freelanced for a half-dozen other companies, including EC Comics. Beginning in 1983 he worked for the magazine For Jewish children, The Moshiach Times.
Berg began at Mad in 1956. For five years, he provided satirical looks at areas such as boating, babysitting, and baseball. In 1961, he started the magazine's "Lighter Side" feature, his most famous creation. Berg would take an omnibus topic (such as "Noise," "Spectators" or "Dog Owners") and deliver approximately 15 short multi-panel cartoons on the subject. In later years, he dropped the one-topic approach. Berg often included caricatures of his own family—headed by his cranky hypochondriac alter ego, Roger Kaputnik—as well as of the Mad editorial staff.
David Berg or Dave Berg may refer to:
Dave Berg (born in Portland, Oregon) is an American country music songwriter. His credits include the Number One country hits "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)" and "These Are My People" by Rodney Atkins, "Somebody" by Reba McEntire, and "Moments" by Emerson Drive, as well as Top 10 country hits "Stupid Boy" by Keith Urban, "Don't Make Me" by Blake Shelton, "What Kinda Gone" by Chris Cagle, and "It's Good to Be Us" by Bucky Covington. Berg has also co-written songs for a wide array of artists such as Jewel, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett, Darius Rucker, Meat Loaf, Tim Armstrong (of the punk band Rancid), Sarah Buxton, Ty Herndon, and others, including the 2013 single "Better" by Maggie Rose. Dave Bergs' songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.
Dave Berg is a native of Portland, Oregon. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1990s. Berg landed his first country cut in 1995 when Ty Herndon sent "I Want My Goodbye Back" into the country Top Ten.
Dave Berg is an American television producer who was co-producer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for 18 years. He was hired as a segment producer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno before its debut on May 25, 1992.
He was also a consultant to the late Frank Pastore and was a regular guest on Pastore's radio show. Berg has a bachelor's degree in political science from Northwestern University and a master's degree in journalism from Kansas State University.
In 2014, he wrote the book Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show.