--- title: Clifford the Big Red Dog Creator Norman Bridwell Dies at 86 description: The series has been translated into 13 languages, and sold 129 million copies canonical: https://time.com/3637264/clifford-the-big-red-dog-creator-norman-bridwell-dies-at-86/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-17T05:47:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:55:35.777Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' Creator Dies og:description: Norman Bridwell died on Friday, Dec. 12, in Martha’s Vineyard at age 86 og:url: https://time.com/3637264/clifford-the-big-red-dog-creator-norman-bridwell-dies-at-86/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c6aa20124ed170/69876f4e55a8594fbea84ced/152715585.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Clifford The Big Red Dog 50th Anniversary Celebration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' Creator Dies twitter:description: Norman Bridwell died on Friday, Dec. 12, in Martha’s Vineyard at age 86 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c6aa20124ed170/69876f4e55a8594fbea84ced/152715585.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Clifford the Big Red Dog_ Creator Norman Bridwell Dies at 86 > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Entertainment Weekly Dec 17, 2014 5:47 AM UTC  Clifford's creator, Norman Bridwell, attends Clifford The Big Red Dog 50th Anniversary Celebration at Scholastic Inc. Headquarters on Sept. 24, 2012 in New York City Clifford's creator, Norman Bridwell, attends Clifford The Big Red Dog 50th Anniversary Celebration at Scholastic Inc. Headquarters on Sept. 24, 2012 in New York CitySlaven Vlasic—Getty Images by [Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Entertainment Weekly Dec 17, 2014 5:47 AM UTC Author and illustrator Norman Bridwell died on Friday, Dec. 12, in Martha’s Vineyard at age 86\. His publisher, Scholastic, announced the news Tuesday, but did not give a cause of death. Bridwell was best known for creating the _Clifford the Big Red Dog_ book series. First published in 1963, Bridwell eventually wrote and illustrated more than 150 Clifford titles. The series has been translated into 13 languages, and sold 129 million copies. Moreover, the lovable canine also found a home in television with PBS Kids’ animated series, which was on air between 2000 and 2003\. Plus, David Bowers is directing a big-screen adaptation, which is set for a April 8, 2016 release date. “Norman Bridwell’s books about Clifford, childhood’s most loveable dog, could only have been written by a gentle man with a great sense of humor,” Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, said in a release. “Norman personified the values that we as parents and educators hope to communicate to our children – kindness, compassion, helpfulness, gratitude – through the Clifford stories which have been loved for more than fifty years.” Robinson added: “The magic of the character and stories Norman created with Clifford is that children can see themselves in this big dog who tries very hard to be good, but is somewhat clumsy and always bumping into things and making mistakes. What comforts the reader is that Clifford is always forgiven by Emily Elizabeth (named after Bridwell’s daughter), who loves him unconditionally. At Scholastic, we are deeply saddened by the loss of our loyal and talented friend whose drawings and stories have inspired all of us and generations of children and their parents.” Bridwell is survived by his wife, Norma, their daughter, Emily Elizabeth, son, Timothy, and three grandchildren. Bridwell finished two more Clifford books prior to his passing, both of which will be released in 2015\. _Clifford Goes to Kindergarten_ will hit shelves in May, and _Clifford Celebrates Hannukah_ will come out in October. For Scholastic’s full statement, click [here](http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/press-release/norman-bridwell-creator-clifford-big-red-dog-dies-86). To watch Clifford’s 50th anniversary video, which features an interview with Bridwell, click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tLKgsaZoNQ&index=21&list=PL3478B644A5F4CAA0). [_This article originally appeared on EW.com_](http://shelf-life.ew.com/2014/12/16/clifford-the-big-red-dog-creator-norman-bridwell-dies-at-86/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3637264/clifford-the-big-red-dog-creator-norman-bridwell-dies-at-86/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3637264/clifford-the-big-red-dog-creator-norman-bridwell-dies-at-86/"},"headline":"Clifford the Big Red Dog Creator Norman Bridwell Dies at 86","datePublished":"2014-12-17T05:47:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:55:35.777Z","description":"The series has been translated into 13 languages, and sold 129 million copies","url":"https://time.com/3637264/clifford-the-big-red-dog-creator-norman-bridwell-dies-at-86/","keywords":["remembrance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c6aa20124ed170/69876f4e55a8594fbea84ced/152715585.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Entertainment Weekly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3c6aa20124ed170/69876f4e55a8594fbea84ced/152715585.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Clifford The Big Red Dog 50th Anniversary Celebration","caption":"Clifford The Big Red Dog 50th Anniversary Celebration","creditText":"Slaven Vlasic—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3637264/clifford-the-big-red-dog-creator-norman-bridwell-dies-at-86/","name":"Clifford the Big Red Dog Creator Norman Bridwell Dies at 86"}}]}] ```