Barry Ernest Fantoni (born 28 February 1940) is 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 comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician of Italian and Jewish descent, most famous for his work with the magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, 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 r ...

'', for whom he also created

Neasden F.C. The fortnightly British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'' has long had a reputation for using euphemistic and irreverent substitute names and titles for people, groups and organisations and has coined a number of expressions to describe sex, dr ...

He has also published books on

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on the traditional astronomy and calendars. Chinese astrology came to flourish during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the t ...

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

Biography

Fantoni was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

to an Italian father and a Jewish mother of French and Dutch extraction, both gifted musicians. He 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 public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...

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 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

programme '' That Was the Week That Was'' 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) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...

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

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, The Kinks and

The Pretty Things ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. On 27 January 2007 he debuted on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Radio Five Live's '' Fighting Talk''. 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'', 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 member of the House of Lords. Early life Berkeley is the eldest of the three sons of Elizabeth Freda (née Bernstein ...

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 ...

E. J. Thribb (17½)

Fantoni is the creator and writer of poems supposedly penned by one

E. J. Thribb E. J. Thribb is the fictitious poet-in-residence at the satirical magazine '' Private Eye''. The character was created in 1972 by Barry Fantoni, who wrote the poems until 2010, when he was succeeded by other staff members. Thribb's poems are usua ...

— 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" 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 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 parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

'' (1968)

References

External links

Fighting Talk website

British Cartoon Archive – University of Kent
– biographical page on Barry Fantoni * 1940 births Living people Artists from London Writers from London English people of Italian descent British astrologers 20th-century astrologers 21st-century astrologers British male journalists British comic strip cartoonists Private Eye contributors {{UK-comics-creator-stub