Phelan Morkel

Phelan Thomas Morkel (born October 25, 1975) is an American filmmaker, actor, animator, writer, singer and musician best known for creating Mole Miner, Morten, Living on an Edge and Cirque Funtastique, co-creating Trisha's Way, Wonderbeaver, Dan & Marilyn, We're the Investigators and The Morkels, and co-developing The Yuyu Show.

Morkel has performed as a bluesman at the Chicago Blues Festival and Ottawa Bluesfest. He has released several studio albums of contemporary blues music and blues rock, beginning with Plymouth Rock (2009). Morkel has received four Grammy Award nominations for his music.

Early life
Phelan Thomas Morkel was born on October 25, 1975 at Burbank Hospital in. He is the son of cartoonist Nicholas H. Morkel (born August 16, 1931) of German, Irish and Afrikaner descent and Argentine-born Cassandra Morkel (née Bergamo; May 2, 1930 – February 11, 2014) of Italian and Spanish descent. His mother, born in, immigrated to at the age of 10. His uncle-in-law is the Bostonian writer Charles Simonsen (born August 5, 1925). Phelan Morkel has a younger sister, Julianne Shannon "Julie" Morkel (born August 21, 1978) who is a writer, producer and actress; and a younger brother named Jason Peter Morkel (born February 1, 1980) who is an actor who has done voice work on a number of Phelan's shows, including several Morkel & Associates productions. His cousin, Justin Felix Morkel (born June 4, 1978), is a filmmaker.

Musical style
Morkel has a tenor voice. He is a guitarist and singer who studied under blues guitarist/singer Johnny Sanders and jazz guitarist Tom Boatwright (the latter of which has also acted as a composer for some of Phelan's television projects). In 2010, Morkel performed at the and the El Kadsre City International Bluesfest. His music is predominantly blues rock, blues, roots rock, Americana and hard rock. He also uses musical comedy in his shows and movies.

In 2019, introduced a signature model for Morkel, the Fender Phelan Morkel Signature Stratocaster.

Influences
Morkel has stated his influences as a cartoonist include and, as well as his father Nicholas; while his musical influences include , , , , , , , ,  and.

Personal life
Morkel married cartoonist Gabrielle Babbington in 2010. The couple split their time between and. They own a diner in Westminster named Phelan and Gabby's, which opened in 2015 and is housed in a restored barrel-roof unit that had previously been sited in.

Morkel is a devout progressive Christian, having been raised within the United Church of Christ. He has shown support for the LGBTQ+ community, and has encouraged other Christians to be more inclusive towards those in the community. In 2008, Morkel co-founded the Modern Life Church in Boston, a progressive Christian church and ministry, with Pastor Vahan Avedisian. When his brother Jason drew criticism in 2016 for admitting to being an atheist, Phelan defended him, saying "He is entitled to his own belief in whether or not God exists, and I respect that."

His mother Cassandra died on February 11, 2014 due to complications from a botched liver transplant. She was 83 years old.

Morkel had planned to attend the show at The Station nightclub in  on February 20, 2003, but had to leave during the opening act to pick up a friend. When they came back,. Ironically, his uncle Charles Simonsen, at 16 years of age, had survived the 1942.