Allen Gustav Anderson was born in 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He studied correspondence art courses and then worked as a staff artist at Fawcett Publications where he met Carl Buettner, Ralph Carlson, and his lifelong best friend, Norman Saunders.

He moved to New York City in 1940 and painted covers for pulp magazine published by Ace Magazines, Fiction House, Harry Donenfeld, and Martin Goodman.