Norman Pett (12 April 1891,

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward (politics), ward within the Government of Birmingham, Engl ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

– 16 February 1960,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

) was an English artist who, in 1932, created the famous cartoon character ''

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * Jane (1915 film), ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * Jane (2016 film), ''Jane'' (20 ...

'' for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its Masthead (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...

''.

Early life

Pett was born on 12 April 1891 in

. After being invalided out of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he studied art at the Press Art School. Later, he taught art at the Mosley Road Junior Art School and at Birmingham Central School of Art.

''Jane''

In 1932, he set out to create a comic strip that would be as popular to adults as the famous ''

Pip, Squeak and Wilfred ''Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'' was a British strip cartoon published in the ''Daily Mirror'' from 1919 to 1956 (with a break c. 1940–1950), as well as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' in the early years. It was conceived by Bertram Lamb, who took the role ...

'' was to children. And so, ''Jane'' was created. For the first few years, Pett's wife Mary modeled for him but eventually, he started to use professional models instead, the most famous of which was Chrystabel Leighton-Porter who modeled for him during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Until the war, ''Jane'' had a little daily funny story, but at the start of the war, she became a continuous story. "The turning point in Jane's career, when she became a success, was when we turned her from a daily joke into a continuous story. In other words, when she was stripped in both senses of the term," Pett told ''

Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its col ...

'' in 1943. Pett retired from drawing ''Jane'' after drawing her for 16 years in 1948, and the strip was continued by Michael Hubbard.

Death

He died at his home in Sussex on 16 February 1960 of undisclosed causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pett, Norman 1891 births 1960 deaths English comics artists English cartoonists British erotic artists British comic strip cartoonists