Illingworth, Leslie (1902 - 1979)

Leslie Illingworth original cartoon artwork.

Leslie Illingworth began his cartooning career by working alongside J M Staniforth on the Western Mail. He began to draw for Punch in 1931, alongside E H Shepard and Bernard Partridge. From 1939 until 1969 he was the political cartoonist at the Daily Mail. Hewison, art editor of Punch, described Illingworth as having ‘faultless pen-and-ink technique, a technique which is essentially naturalistic yet masterly in its variety of textures, arrangements of tones, and subtle atmospheric perspective.’ Due to unpaid tax bills, Illingworth came out of retirement to work for the News of the World and The Sun from 1974 to 1976. See Illingworth biography by Timothy S. Benson.