Willie Gillis, Jr. (more commonly simply Willie Gillis) is a fictional character created by Norman Rockwell for a series of World War II paintings that appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post (henceforth Post). Gillis, who was a fictional private, appeared on a total of eleven Post covers. Gillis was a fictional everyman whose career was tracked on the cover of the Post from induction through discharge without being depicted in battle....
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Willie Gillis, Jr. (more commonly simply Willie Gillis) is a fictional character created by Norman Rockwell for a series of World War II paintings that appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post (henceforth Post). Gillis, who was a fictional private, appeared on a total of eleven Post covers. Gillis was a fictional everyman whose career was tracked on the cover of the Post from induction through discharge without being depicted in battle. Gillis and his fictional girlfriend were artistic depictions of some of Rockwell's real-life acquaintances who served as his models.
Although Gillis was not exclusively used on Post covers, the Willie Gillis series of covers was a hallmark of Rockwell's wartime work. In Rockwell's prime and at the peak of its popularity, The Post had a subscribership of 4 million, and many of these subscribers believed Gillis was a real person. Rockwell's wartime art, including Willie Gillis, the Four Freedoms and Rosie the Riveter, contributed to the success...
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