Ron Vivian (19 February 1914 – 5 September 1973) was an Australian cartoonist who is perhaps best known as having drawn

Ginger Meggs ''Ginger Meggs'', created in 1921 by Jimmy Bancks, is one of Australia's most popular and the longest-running comic strip. The strip follows the escapades of a red-haired prepubescent mischief-maker who lives in an inner suburban working-class ...

after the original creator,

Jimmy Bancks James Charles Bancks (10 May 1889 – 1 July 1952), commonly J. C. Bancks, was an Australian cartoonist and commercial artist, water and illustrator best known for his comic strip ''Ginger Meggs''. Biography James Charles Bancks was born in En ...

died in 1952.

Biography

Ronald Charles Vivian was born on 19 February 1914 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, to Charles Cecil Vivian and Vida Francis. Vivian enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in January 1942 and served in Australia and New Guinea during the Second World War. Vivian was awarded the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-45 and Australian Service Medal 1939-45. Upon his return he was appointed to the Victorian Air Board where he illustrated many RAAF magazines before returning to civilian life. He worked as an artist for

Sir Frank Packer Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer (3 December 19061 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family. Early life Frank Packer was born in ...

's Australian Consolidated Press (ACP), drawing political cartoons for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', illustrations for ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known simply as ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Are Media in Sydney and founded in 1933. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before bein ...

'' and other Consolidated Press publications. When Jim Bancks died suddenly of a heart attack in 1952, Packer held a competition among several artists to select a suitable person to continue to draw ''

''. Numerous artists submitted trial pages and in the end Vivian's entry was chosen over others including Dan Russell (whom Packer thought that his brother Jim Russell had drawn instead). He then drew the comic for ACP's ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...

'' from April 1953 for the next twenty one years, until his death in early 1973. Vivian remained true to the Bancks style and concept and the only difference was the signature, with the strip carrying the identification 'Created by Bancks', as he was not permitted to put his name to the drawings.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vivian, Ron 1914 births 1973 deaths Australian comics artists Australian comic strip cartoonists Australian editorial cartoonists Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from New South Wales