{{Short description|British cartoonist (1933–2023)}} {{sources|date=March 2023}} {{Use British English|date=November 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox comics creator | name = Bill Tidy<br />MBE | image = | caption = | birth_name = William Edward Tidy | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1933|10|9}} | birth_place = Tranmere, Cheshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2023|3|11|1933|10|9}} | death_place = | cartoonist = y | write = y | art = y | alias = | signature = | notable works = ''The Cloggies''<br />''The Fosdyke Saga'' | awards = MBE (2000) | website = }}
'''William Edward Tidy''', MBE (9 October 1933 – 11 March 2023) was a British cartoonist, writer and television personality, known chiefly for his comic strips. He was noted for his charitable work, particularly for the Lord's Taverners, which he supported for over 30 years. Deeply proud of his working-class roots in Northern England, his most abiding cartoon strips, such as ''The Cloggies'' and ''The Fosdyke Saga'', were set in an exaggerated version of that environment.
Tidy was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours for services to journalism.<ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |issue=56070 |date=30 December 2000 |supp=y |pages=23 }}</ref>
==Early life== Tidy was born in Tranmere, a suburb of Birkenhead, Cheshire, on 9 October 1933. He was brought up in Liverpool, where he was educated to the age of 15 at St Margaret's Church of England Academy (then St Margaret's Technical Commercial School), Anfield. His first published cartoon appeared in the school magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk/cms/people/bill-tidy-britains-best-c.shtml |title=Bill Tidy - Britain's Best Cartoonist |access-date=30 April 2008 |archive-date=5 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105223605/http://www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk/cms/people/bill-tidy-britains-best-c.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>
After working in a shipping office Tidy joined the Royal Engineers in 1952.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ashbournenewstelegraph.co.uk/King-Tidy-big-archaeology-fan-far-fossil/story-21033596-detail/story.html |title=''Ashbourne News-Telegraph'' |access-date=7 October 2015 |archive-date=5 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505190817/http://www.ashbournenewstelegraph.co.uk/King-Tidy-big-archaeology-fan-far-fossil/story-21033596-detail/story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> He sold his first cartoon to a Japanese newspaper in 1955 and in the same year left the army. He found work in a Liverpool advertising agency the following year, where he drew illustrations for advertisements in magazines. Despite having no formal artistic training, he began to sell cartoons on a freelance basis and soon left the agency to work full-time as a professional cartoonist.
==Career== As Tidy's work became better known and began to be published in the ''Daily Sketch'' and ''Daily Mirror'', he moved to London where, together with a number of his contemporaries in Fleet Street, he formed the British Cartoonists' Association.<ref>Skinn, Dez. [https://dezskinn.com/warner-williams-2/ "Warner Bros (Williams): Getting on track with The House of Hammer,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128112306/https://dezskinn.com/warner-williams-2/ |date=28 January 2021 }} DezSkinn.com. Retrieved 15 Dec. 2020.</ref> Tidy is known for his cartoon strips — ''The Cloggies'' ran from 1967 to 1981 in the fortnightly satirical magazine ''Private Eye'', and ''The Fosdyke Saga'' was published daily in the ''Daily Mirror'' from 1971 to 1984; the latter was a parody of ''The Forsyte Saga'', set in the industrial north instead of a genteel upper-class environment. This was broadcast as a radio series in 42 parts by the BBC from 1983, with additional scripting by John Junkin. It also became a stage play with Tidy working in co-operation with playwright Alan Plater. Tidy restarted producing the Fosdyke Saga cartoon strip on his own website where he also offered a variety of his works for sale.
Other cartoon strip series and individual cartoons have been published in many other newspapers and magazines, including ''New Scientist'' (''Grimbledon Down'' for 24 years<ref>{{cite news|publisher=New Scientist|date=26 March 1994|title=So farewell Treem - and Bill Tidy - After 24 years on the front line, Grimbledon Down is closing down|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14119185.200|accessdate=29 March 2015}}</ref>), ''What's Brewing'' (CAMRA's monthly magazine), and ''Punch''. When ''Punch'' ceased publication, Tidy attempted to buy the title. He also wrote 20 books and illustrated 70.
Tidy's many TV appearances have included ''Countdown'', ''Watercolour Challenge'', ''Through the Keyhole'', ''Blankety Blank'' and ''Countryfile''. His radio appearances included an accomplished performance on a 1989 edition of ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', when he stood in for Barry Cryer and a 1991 series where he stood in for Tim Brooke-Taylor. He wrote and presented ''Draw Me'', a children's television series in 13 parts. He was the subject of ''This Is Your Life'' in 1975 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}
Between 1985 and 1993, Tidy was a frequent celebrity guest in 'Dictionary Corner' on the long-running Channel 4 gameshow ''Countdown''.
==Personal life== Tidy died on 11 March 2023, at the age of 89.<ref>[https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/03/12/breaking-legendary-british-cartoonist-bill-tidy-passes-away-aged-89/ Legendary British cartoonist Bill Tidy passes away aged 89]</ref>
==Further reading== * Tidy, Bill (autobiography). ''Is There Any News of the Iceberg?''. Smith Gryphon, 1995. {{ISBN|978-1856851022}} — The title alludes to one of Tidy's best-known cartoons, in which a man leading a polar bear on a chain poses this concerned question to a representative of White Star Line, who is surrounded by vast crowds reading posted passenger lists after the sinking of RMS ''Titanic''.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20030419220947/http://www.billtidy.com/ Bill Tidy's home page] * [http://www.artistsandmakers.com/article.php?story=20050420120214187 Bill Tidy Exhibition 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050505131248/http://www.artistsandmakers.com/article.php?story=20050420120214187 |date=5 May 2005 }} * [http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/artists/billtidy/biography British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901124314/http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/artists/billtidy/biography |date=1 September 2010 }} * {{imdb name|0862776}} * {{discogs artist|Bill Tidy}} * [https://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/tidy_bill.htm Lambiek Comiclopedia biography.]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tidy, Bill}} Category:1933 births Category:2023 deaths Category:British comic strip cartoonists Category:British comics writers Category:British satirical comics artists Category:British satirical comics writers Category:Private Eye contributors Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Artists from Liverpool Category:Artists from Birkenhead