Giles, Carl (1916 - 1995)

Carl Giles original cartoon artwork.

After leaving school, aged 14, Carl Giles began work as an animator; he was one of the chief contributors to The Fox Hunt, the first animated British colour cartoon with sound. In December 1937, he went to work for Reynolds News drawing first gag cartoons then political ones once war had broken out in September 1939. He also produced a strip entitled 'Young Ernie'. Then in October 1943 he joined the Express newspaper group, working alongside George Strube on the Daily Express and contributing a cartoon each week to the Sunday Express. Giles became best known for his Express ‘family’, especially the vast, dominant figure of Grandma, perpetually clothed in black and exuding an aura of self-satisfied menace. Ronald Searle felt nobody was able to rival Giles in ‘his superb understanding of human behaviour’.