Paul Crispin RigbyAM (25 October 1924 – 15 November 2006) was an Australian cartoonist who worked for newspapers in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.[1] He usually worked under the name Rigby.
Early life
Rigby was born in Sandringham, Victoria,[2] on 25 October 1924, the second son of James Rigby, a telephone engineer, and his wife Violet Wood.[2] He studied art at Brighton Technical School before leaving at 15 to work as a commercial artist, eventually taking up freelance work.
From 1949 his work coincided with that of topical columnist Bernie Kirwan Ward on the back page of the Daily News. The pair published a number of books containing reprints of their popular collaborations.[3]
From 1959 Rigby's cartoons were syndicated to various newspapers throughout Australia.[2]
Rigby returned to Australia in 1974 to work at the Sydney Daily Telegraph and then moved to the United States to work at another new Murdoch acquisition, the New York Post, also contributing to the Star. From 1984 to 1992, he worked at the New York Daily News.
Many later artists were influenced by his book Paul Rigby's Course of Drawing and Cartooning (1976), which was privately published.[4] He illustrated more than 30 books and produced a number of collections of his drawings.[2]
In much the same way that Al Hirschfeld concealed the name "NINA" in his own drawings, Rigby usually included hard-to-find images of a tiny dog and a small boy (referred to as "the urchin") somewhere in his cartoons.
Awards
Rigby is a recipient of an Order of Australia for services to cartooning (1999).[5][6]
Paul Rigby is credited with founding the Limp Falling Association in Perth in the late 1950s.[8]
"Limp falling" is the art of going limp and falling to the ground. It is usually practiced unannounced in a public place, typically a pub.[8] People working in Perth's media began limp falling while drinking at the Palace Hotel (to the bemusement of other patrons).[8]
Personal life
Rigby married the radio and television journalist Marlene Cockburn in Perth in 1956.[2][9] They had two sons and three daughters.[2]