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Calman Revisited : Old Jokes Sometiems improve with Age
Paperback
Published January 1, 1983
About the author
Mel Calman
49 books2 followersMel Calman was born in Hackney, the son of Russian-Jewish parents, but he was evacuated to avoid the Blitz. He was relocated on the outskirts of Cambridge and attended the Perse School, were he stated that he found it really hard work even to come bottom at that school.
Wanting to read English at Cambridge he failed to get into the University, mainly for financial reasons. He tried to secure a course for journalism but it was full so he decided to fall back on a latent desire to draw. And on that subject he later said that he became a cartoonist because at art school they laughed when he sat down to draw.
His first nationally published work was for the 'Daily Express' and as an instant topical cartoonist at the end of BBC TV's celebrated news magazine programme 'Tonight'. He went on to work arond Fleet Street unti in 1979 he joined 'The Times'. And there he found the front page that suited his talents best and he became known as the founding father of the tiny art genre. And as for why his work was so minimalist he replied gruffly, 'To save pencils.'
He wrote his autobiographical sketches from a cartoonist's life 'What Else Do You Do?' as a tart example of the question cartoonist's are most irritated by. He also wrote the text in the many books that he had published and he also wrote a number of surreal plays for Radio Three. Also he often exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, illustrated books, designed dust wrappers and advertising campaigns, ran his gallery, and worked for charitable causes for graphic designers.
He loved the cinema, theatre, opera and the arts and, ironically, he suffered a fatal heart attack while watching a film at the Odeon, Leicester Square.
He married twice, had two daughters from his first marriage and lived his final 10 years happily with Deborah Moggach, the novelist. He also wrestled with the black dog of depression but had a warm heart and a generous spirit.
After his death, Lord Rees-Mogg, editor of 'The Times' from 1967 to 1981 commented, 'I always thought he was both an excellent cartoonist and, as a colleague, an extraordinarily pleasant and gentle person to deal with.' Peter Stothard his last editor at the newspaper said, "Every true artist draws himself; Mel Calman drew himself into the heart of 'The Times'".
Gerry Wolstenholme
September 2023
Wanting to read English at Cambridge he failed to get into the University, mainly for financial reasons. He tried to secure a course for journalism but it was full so he decided to fall back on a latent desire to draw. And on that subject he later said that he became a cartoonist because at art school they laughed when he sat down to draw.
His first nationally published work was for the 'Daily Express' and as an instant topical cartoonist at the end of BBC TV's celebrated news magazine programme 'Tonight'. He went on to work arond Fleet Street unti in 1979 he joined 'The Times'. And there he found the front page that suited his talents best and he became known as the founding father of the tiny art genre. And as for why his work was so minimalist he replied gruffly, 'To save pencils.'
He wrote his autobiographical sketches from a cartoonist's life 'What Else Do You Do?' as a tart example of the question cartoonist's are most irritated by. He also wrote the text in the many books that he had published and he also wrote a number of surreal plays for Radio Three. Also he often exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, illustrated books, designed dust wrappers and advertising campaigns, ran his gallery, and worked for charitable causes for graphic designers.
He loved the cinema, theatre, opera and the arts and, ironically, he suffered a fatal heart attack while watching a film at the Odeon, Leicester Square.
He married twice, had two daughters from his first marriage and lived his final 10 years happily with Deborah Moggach, the novelist. He also wrestled with the black dog of depression but had a warm heart and a generous spirit.
After his death, Lord Rees-Mogg, editor of 'The Times' from 1967 to 1981 commented, 'I always thought he was both an excellent cartoonist and, as a colleague, an extraordinarily pleasant and gentle person to deal with.' Peter Stothard his last editor at the newspaper said, "Every true artist draws himself; Mel Calman drew himself into the heart of 'The Times'".
Gerry Wolstenholme
September 2023
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