Roy "Roi" Carless (October 3, 1920–January 2, 2009) was a Canadian cartoonist. His cartoons were syndicated across Canada and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and he is considered one of Canada's most productive cartoonists.

Biography

Born in

York County, Ontario York County is a historic county in Upper Canada, Canada West, and the Canadian province of Ontario. It was organized by the Upper Canada administration from the lands of the Toronto Purchase and others. Created in 1792, at its largest size, i ...

in 1920, Roy was first published at the age of 14 in the school newspaper at Runnymede Collegiate in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. His father was an athlete and Chief of Police in Swansea, where Roy explored the community between High Park and the Humber River, observing the differences between life as lived and as perceived and recorded. He said his first drawing instruction came from an architectural student who, courting Roy's older sister, needed to keep the youngster occupied with something else. Receiving no formal art training, Carless was inspired and mentored by the late

Duncan Macpherson Duncan Ian Macpherson, CM (September 20, 1924 in Toronto – May 3, 1993 in Beaverton, Ontario) was a Canadian editorial cartoonist. He drew for the '' Montreal Standard'' (starting 1948) and for ''Maclean's'', illustrating the writings of Gr ...

, editorial cartoonist for the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

, who nominated Carless to membership in the

Association of American Editorial Cartoonists The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) is a professional association concerned with promoting the interests of staff, freelance and student editorial cartoonists in the United States, Canada and Mexico. With nearly 200 members, it ...

in 1971. Roy was the first labour cartoonist to be accepted by the organization. Most of Carless' originals are now in Canada's national archives ( Library and Archives Canada). Copies are also in several Presidential libraries and in university collections. His work has hung in shows in the Art Gallery of Ontario, the International Salon of Cartoons in Montreal, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Hamilton Public Library, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Civilization and the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, the National Headquarters of the Canadian Labour Council, and shows in the cities of Quebec, Paris, Boston, Washington, and the

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. In 2006, Seraphim Editions published a retrospective of Roy Carless' life and work titled "the Carless Cartoon Collection, not bad for an old bastard." Carless died Friday morning, January 2, 2009, in Hamilton, Ontario. He was 88.

Cartoons

Signed as "Roi", Carless cartoons have been published in independent and labour publications in both official languages and in every province of Canada right to the Arctic Circle. His work has appeared in each of the United States and its territories from

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. At his peak, Carless created for more than twenty publications with a combined circulation exceeding three million copies, drawing to meet the specific needs of each publication. Remarkably, he did this while working full-time on an assembly line in Hamilton, Canada, and while chief steward of the union that represented employees in the plant. "I worked with a witty bunch of guys; my editorial board was the guys at the shop," Roy said about the inspiration for much of his humour.

References

* Carless, R and Schooley, K. The Carless Cartoon Collection: Not Bad for an Old Bastard, 2006. Seraphim Editions, Hamilton, Ontario. {{DEFAULTSORT:Carless, Roy Canadian editorial cartoonists 1920 births 2009 deaths