Michael ffolkes
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Brian Davis(6 June 1925 – 18 October 1988), known professionally asMichael ffolkes,was a Britishillustratorandcartoonistmost famous for his work on thePeter SimplecolumninThe Daily Telegraph.He also worked forPunchandPlayboy.
Life
[edit]Davis was born in London on 6 June 1925.[1]He studied art atSaint Martin's School of Art,and in 1942 sold his first drawing toPunch,signing it "brian". He was atelegraphistwith theRoyal NavyduringWorld War II.[1]He went on to study painting at theChelsea School of Artand later adopted "Michael ffolkes" as his artistic name after being inspired by a name he read inBurke's Peerage.[1]He began his career in 1949. He typically signed his cartoons as "ffolkes" in an all-lowercase style. In 1955, ffolkes began to illustrate the "Way of the World" column inThe Daily Telegraph.In 1961, he began illustratingPunchfilm reviews, and later its covers.[2]
He contributed to such newspapers and magazines asThe Strand Magazine,Lilliput,The Daily Telegraph,The Spectator,The Sunday Telegraph,Playboy,Private Eye,The New Yorker,Reader's Digest,Krokodil,andEsquire.He was a prolific illustrator of children's books, in particular those ofRoald Dahl,and published his autobiography,ffundamental ffolkes,in 1985.[1]
According toKen Pyne,the cartoonistMartin Honeysett"... achieved almost legendary status when he threw a huge wobbly cake baked forPrivate Eye's 21st birthday party over the head of the notoriously pompous cartoonist Michael ffolkes. His name will live forever just for that. "[3]
Personal life and death
[edit]Davis married Miriam Boxer in 1953; they had two children and divorced in 1971.[1]He then married Sophie Kemp in 1972, with whom he had a daughter before divorcing in 1981.[1]In his later years, he was in a relationship with Elfa Kramers.[1]
He died fromacute pancreatitisandcirrhosisatLister Hospitalin London on 18 October 1988, at the age of 63.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcdefghHeneage, Simon (2004). "Davis, Brian [pseud. Michael ffolkes] (1925–1988), cartoonist and illustrator".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57151.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^"Brian Davis [Ffolkes]".British Cartoon Archive.
- ^Pyne, Ken (12 February 2015)."Obituary of Martin Honeysett".The Guardian.p. 37.
Further reading
[edit]- ffolkes, Michael (1985).ffundamental ffolkes: an autobiography.Tunbridge Wells: Costello.ISBN0710430051.
External links
[edit]- Howse, Christopher (3 September 2003)."Drawn to an age of innocence".Daily Telegraph.Retrieved5 July2020.— review of a retrospective of ffolkes' work
- Michael ffolkesat theNational Portrait Gallery.
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