Charlotte Braun: Death Of A "Peanuts" Character

In 1955, Charles Schultz killed off the much-disliked character with an axe.

On November 30th, 1954, Charles Schulz introduced the new character of Charlotte Braun, to his beloved comic strip Peanuts.

Charlotte was intended to be the female counterpart of Charlie Brown. She was loud, brash, and had a dominating personality.

But readers of the comic didn’t much like the character and after only 10 appearances Charlotte mysteriously disappeared.

Via peanutsblog.tumblr.com

Her final appearance was on February 1, 1955.

45 years later, following the death of Schulz, the secret of what happened to her came out. After receiving a complaint letter about the character from a young fan named Elizabeth Swain, Schulz agreed to kill her off.

In his letter back to Swain, Schulz jokingly stated, “You and your friends will have the death of an innocent child on your conscience. Are you prepared to accept such responsibility?” He then signed it with a picture of Charlotte with an axe to the head.

Via lettersofnote.com

Transcript:

Jan. 5, 1955

Dear Miss Swaim,

I am taking your suggestion regarding Charlotte Braun and will eventually discard her. If she appears anymore it will be in strips that were already completed before I got your letter or because someone writes in saying that they like her. Remember, however, that you and your friends will have the death of an innocent child on your conscience. Are you prepared to accept such responsibility?

Thanks for writing, and I hope that future releases will please you.

Sincerely,

Charles M. Schulz

RIP Charlotte Braun.