Jack Kirkbride (31 March 1923 – 1 October 2006) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

cartoonist, and father to

Anne Kirkbride Anne Kirkbride (21 June 1954 – 19 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap ''Coronation Street'', which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this role, she posthu ...

, the actress who played

Deirdre Barlow Deirdre Anne Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Anne Kirkbride. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 November 1972 ...

in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1972 to 2014. Kirkbride left school at the age of fourteen to become an apprentice

painter and decorator A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to imp ...

but was called up for the Army at age eighteen, when he began to draw cartoons. He served from 1942 as a transport driver with the Royal Army Service Corps. He fought in the

Normandy Campaign Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

in 1944 and was

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

in 1946. He sold his first cartoon to a national paper in 1953 (a Mothers' Day gag for the '' Sunday Dispatch'') and later sold to most national papers and magazines, including ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' and ''

The Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edit ...

''. His work also appeared in the German press under the name of ''Jacki''. He became the ''

Oldham Evening Chronicle The ''Oldham Evening Chronicle'' was a daily newspaper published each weekday evening. It served the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. There were also four sister editions, called the ''Oldham Extra'', ''Saddleworth ...

s regular cartoonist in 1958 and went full-time in the 1970s. He was a founder member of the Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain and his work was published across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Kirkbride won first prize at the Waddington's International Cartoon Festival (Margate 1989). His hobbies included listening to classical music, renovating his 18th century farmhouse on the edge of Saddleworth Moor and playing the pianola. He died of an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ( ...

at his home in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

, at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkbride, Jack 1923 births 2006 deaths British Army personnel of World War II English cartoonists People from Oldham Deaths from aneurysm Royal Army Service Corps soldiers