Leslie Dixon (1910–2002), was an Australian cartoonist and commercial artist.

Biography

Dixon was born Leslie Charles Brailey in Sydney on 25 July 1910 and adopted by Charles and Lillian Dixon when he was only six months old. He attended primary schools in the Sydney suburbs of

Drummoyne Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative center for the local government area of the City of ...

and Balmain before moving to

Cobargo Cobargo is a village in the south-east area of the state of New South Wales in Australia in Bega Valley Shire. At the , Cobargo had a population of 776 people. It is 386 km south of Sydney on the Princes Highway between Narooma and Bega ...

in 1918 with his family, on a venture of stripping wattle bark, trapping rabbits and share

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...

ing. During this time he completed most of his schooling via correspondence from the Plunkett Street School in Sydney. He commenced his formal art training in 1924 when, at age 14, he signed up for an art correspondence course promoted by the Australian painter Harry J. Weston. In 1929 Dixon returned to Sydney working as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

's striker for six months before joining the Vacuum Oil Company as a truck driver. He continued to take art lessons by correspondence. In 1931 he married Ella May Laws (d. 1975) in South

Balmain, New South Wales Balmain is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Inner West Council. It is locate ...

. At the age of 28, he was involved in a traffic accident in

Erskineville Erskineville is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Erskinevill ...

, sustaining a fracture at the base of the skull and dislocating his spine. As a result of his injuries he was forced to leave the oil company. While on the

dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

, he studied

life drawing A figure drawing is a drawing of the human form in any of its various shapes and postures using any of the drawing media. The term can also refer to the act of producing such a drawing. The degree of representation may range from highly detailed, ...

at the Catholic Guild, Sydney. During this time he became a freelance artist, selling illustrations and comics to magazines such as ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir ...

'', '' The Bulletin'' and ''Rydges Business Journal'' and drew comic stories for Frank Johnson Publications. He enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

on 22 January 1942 in

Gladesville, New South Wales Gladesville is a suburb in the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Gladesville is located 10 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde a ...

but was discharged three months later on 5 May 1942 as his earlier injuries prevented him from wearing a tin hat. Dixon then joined the staff of

in 1942 and remained there until 1949 just before folded in October 1950. When Jim Russell left ''Smith's'' he was appointed the Art Editor but the position was never ratified before the paper closed down. He then became Art Editor for the Sydney Production unit of ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, ...

'', where he remained until February 1957 when he took over responsibility for ''

Bluey and Curley ''Bluey and Curley'' is an Australian newspaper comic strip written by the Australian artist, caricaturist, and cartoonist Alex Gurney. Few original ''Bluey and Curley'' strips are held in public collections, because Gurney often gave the origina ...

'', following the death of Norman Rice in a car accident on 31 December 1956. Rice having succeeded from the strip's creator,

Alex Gurney Alexander Gurney (born September 4, 1974) is an American racing driver who competes in the Rolex Sports Car Series for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing. He won the 2007 and 2009 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championshi ...

in 1956. He continued to produce the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

for eighteen years until it was retired on 26 July 1975. During his time on ''Bluey and Curley'' Dixon gradually altered the art style and introduced new characters including 'Jazzer', a

swagman A swagman (also called a swaggie, sundowner or tussocker) was a transient labourer who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying his belongings in a swag. The term originated in Australia in the 19th century and was later used in New Zealan ...

; and 'Trotters', an old

reprobate Reprobation, in Christian theology, is a doctrine which teaches that a person can reject the gospel to a point where God in turn rejects them and curses their conscience. The English word ''reprobate'' is from the Latin root ''probare'' (''Engl ...

, to assist in the strip's popularity. Dixon also created the comic strips, ''Little Trump'' and ''Phill Dill'' (about a man "whose life zigzags from one bumbling crisis to another"). In his retirement, Dixon drew a strip, ''Sandy Lakes'', about a hale and hearty

pensioner A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

, which was published in the '' Central Coast Express Advocate'' in 1976 and ran for thirteen years. Dixon was made a life member of the Australian Black and White Artists' Club in 1991 and was awarded a Silver Stanley in 1994 for his contribution to Australian cartooning.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Les Australian comic strip cartoonists Australian comics artists Australian cartoonists Australian commercial artists 1910 births 2002 deaths