Barry Ernest Fantoni (28 February 1940 – 20 May 2025) was a British author,

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician, most famous for his work with the magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'', for whom he also created Neasden F.C. He had also published books on

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on traditional Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theor ...

as well as a mystery novel set in Miami featuring 87-year-old private investigator Harry Lipkin.

Biography

Fantoni was born to an Italian father and a Jewish mother of French and Dutch extraction, both gifted musicians, and grew up in London's East End. Fantoni was educated at the Archbishop Temple School in London. At the age of fourteen, he was awarded the Wedgewood Scholarship for the Arts and studied at the

Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

from 1954 until 1958. There, he formed the school's first jazz group as well as a film society and pioneered a drama group before getting expelled. In 1963, Fantoni became a member of the editorial staff of the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. He was behind some of the magazine's most famous characters and appeared in all but 31 of its 1,278 issues until his retirement in 2010. He also wrote scripts for the

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

programme ''

That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pr ...

'' in 1962. Fantoni hosted a short-lived BBC TV show called ''A Whole Scene Going'' in 1966, which won him the title of Male TV Personality of the Year. The show focused on contemporary trends in the arts:

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949), widely known by the nickname Twiggy, is an English model, actress, and singer. She was a Culture of the United Kingdom, British cultural icon and a prominent teenage model during th ...

made her first appearance on the show, and it also featured performances from

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

and

The Pretty Things ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. He illustrated the sheet music for "

Let's Go to San Francisco "Let's Go to San Francisco" is the only UK-charting single by the British pop group The Flower Pot Men. The song was written and produced by John Carter and Ken Lewis, engineered by John Mackswith and released in 1967 on 7" single format. C ...

" by

The Flower Pot Men The Flower Pot Men (sometimes spelled The Flowerpot Men) were an English pop group created in 1967 as a result of the single " Let's Go to San Francisco", recorded by session musicians, which became a major UK Top 20 and Continental Europe ...

. In 2006, the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

acquired 17 drawings by Fantoni, including portraits of comedians and politicians, such as

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of a soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

and

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

. The Gallery's collection also contains several photographic portraits of Fantoni himself. On 27 January 2007 he debuted on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

's ''

Fighting Talk ''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 11.00 and 12.00 and is currently presented by Rick Edwards. This show is ...

''. He scored 28 points thus finishing in last place which is a programme tradition for a debutant. In September 2007, he was a guest on ''

Private Passions ''Private Passions'' is a weekly music discussion programme that has been running since 15 April 1995 on BBC Radio 3, presented by composer Michael Berkeley. The production was formerly made by Classic Arts Productions, a British radio and audi ...

'', the weekly music discussion programme hosted by

Michael Berkeley Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton, (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer, broadcaster on music and non-party political member of the House of Lords, speaking as an advocate for the arts, contemporary music and music ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. Fantoni died in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on 20 May 2025, at the age of 85.

E. J. Thribb (17½)

Fantoni was the creator and writer of poems supposedly penned by one E. J. Thribb – the fictitious poet-in-residence at ''

''. His poems are usually about recently deceased famous people, and always begin "So, farewell then...". Thribb also usually mentions the deceased's "

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

" or theme song and his poems often feature his friend Keith, or Keith's mum, who usually does something "like" the deceased. The poetry consists of a

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...

which is just broken up into lines.

Selected filmography

*'' Just Like a Woman'' (1967) *'' The Strange Affair'' (1968) *''

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

'' (1968)

References

External links

Fighting Talk website

British Cartoon Archive – University of Kent
– biographical page on Barry Fantoni * * * 1940 births 2025 deaths 20th-century British astrologers 21st-century astrologers Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts Artists from Essex Artists from London British comic strip cartoonists English male journalists British people of French-Jewish descent English people of Dutch-Jewish descent English people of French descent English people of Italian descent Journalists from London Private Eye contributors Writers from Essex Writers from London {{UK-comics-creator-stub