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 f ...

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

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and 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 its prominent criticism a ...

'', for whom he also created Neasden F.C. 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 major s ...

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 postgradu ...

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 1 ...

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 pre ...

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

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 ...

. On 27 January 2007 he debuted on

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 exam. ...

Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

'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 1100 and 1200 and is based on a similar format to the ESPN show ''Around t ...

''. 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 the composer Michael Berkeley. The production was formerly made by Classic Arts Productions, a British radio an ...

'', 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, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...

E. J. Thribb (17½)

Fantoni is 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. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...

which is just broken up into lines.

Selected filmography

*''

Just Like a Woman "Just Like a Woman" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan first released on his seventh studio album, '' Blonde on Blonde'' on June 20, 1966. It was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. A shorter edit was released as a sing ...

'' (1967) *''

The Strange Affair ''The Strange Affair'' is a 1968 British crime drama film directed by David Greene and starring Michael York, Jeremy Kemp and Susan George. Plot Peter Strange (Michael York) is an idealistic young police recruit who gets mixed up with the mac ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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