Thomas Benrimo was self-taught as an artist and worked in a frame gilding shop and as a billboard painter before leaving the west to come to New York. In New York, he worked for Lee Lash Studios and then became a scene painter at Gates Morange doing work for such shows a s the Zeigfeld Follies. He left scene painting to become an illustrator and he was published in several magazines. He taught advertising and design at Pratt Institute from 1935 to 1939. After leaving scene painting he began designing sets for the theatre and doing advertising work. His clients included Atlas Cement, Exide Battery, Mack Trucks and the Aluminum Company of America. His work appears in the Fort Worth Art Museum, Museum of New Mexico and the Denver Art Museum.