George Ernest Studdy (Devonport, 23 June 1878 – 25 July 1948) was a British

commercial artist Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of prom ...

. He is best remembered for his creation of Bonzo the dog, a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

in the early 1920s that first appeared in ''

The Sketch ''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on ro ...

'' Magazine.

Biography

Studdy was born on 23 June 1878, in Devonport, Devon, England. He was the second of three children of Ernest and Constance Studdy. His father was a lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. During his childhood, his foot was accidentally pierced by a

pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

, which later prevented him from following his father into the army. He pursued his education at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

, Bristol, and then

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

in London while living with his aunt. He left the College and England in the summer of 1896. He worked as a stockbroker with the Thames Iron Works. He had always dreamed of going back to school, so with £100 given to him from his aunt, he attended night classes at the

Heatherley School of Fine Art The Heatherley School of Fine Art is an independent art school in London. The school was named after Thomas Heatherley who took over as the school's principal from James Mathews Leigh (when it was named "Leigh's"). Founded in 1845, the schoo ...

in London to study drawing as well as studying animal anatomy at Calderon's Animal School. After art school, he shared a studio with several friends from art school while working to complete a portfolio. He was able to sell a few of his sketches to local newspapers and magazines. A few newspapers later commissioned Studdy to draw action scenes to go along with articles on the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. In 1900, as Studdy's sketches started to gain popularity, ''

Comic Cuts ''Comic Cuts'' was a British comic magazine. It was published from 1890 to 1953, lasting for 3006 issues. It was created by the reporter Alfred Harmsworth through his company Amalgamated Press (AP). In its early days, it inspired other publishe ...

'', '' Boys Own Weekly'' and '' Pick-Me-Up'' began to publish Studdy's sketches regularly. It was about this time that he started his long relationship with

Valentine & Sons Valentine and Sons was a printing company founded in Dundee, Scotland in 1851 by James Valentine (1815–1879), that grew to become Scotland's leading manufacturer of picture postcards. Following James Valentine's death the company was run ...

postcards of Dundee. One of the first set they published was a series of six sketches called "The Evolution of the Motor Car".(Fitzpatrick) In 1912, Studdy married Blanche Landrin. That same year he signed a contract with ''

'' to produce a weekly full-page drawing. When

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

broke out, he was commissioned by Gaumont to produce a series of short films called ''Studdy’s War Studies''. Studdy later introduced Bonzo into his sketches. His Bonzo character was a chubby little white pup with sparse black spots, a stubby tail, and big blue eyes. Bonzo became the inspiration for much commercial merchandise, such as cuddly and mechanical toys,

ashtray An ashtray is a receptacle for ash from cigarettes and cigars. Ashtrays are typically made of fire-retardant material such as glass, heat-resistant plastic, pottery, metal, or stone. It differs from a cigarette receptacle, which is used speci ...

pincushion A pincushion (or pin cushion) is a small, stuffed cushion, typically across, which is used in sewing to store pins or needles with their heads protruding to take hold of them easily, collect them, and keep them organized. Pincushions are typ ...

s, trinket boxes, car mascots,

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture. In t ...

s, books, calendars, candies, and a profusion of

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s. Bonzo's massive popularity allowed Studdy and his wife to live a very comfortable life until he died in 1948.

References

External links

George Studdy and Bonzo Dog reference websiteG. E. Studdy's Files on Collections Numérisées website, Cité Internationale de la bande dessinée et de l'Image, France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Studdy, George E. 1878 births 1948 deaths Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art British comics artists British cartoonists People educated at Dulwich College People educated at Clifton College