'Belinda' (15 July 1950).
Tony Royle was a British comic artist. He is best remembered for continuing the soap opera newspaper comic 'Belinda (Blue Eyes)’ between 1943 until the final episode in 1959.
Early life
George Edward Anthony Royle was born in 1898 in Weaste, Salford, Lancashire. He was the son of a foreman cutter. By 1901, the family lived in Pendleton Salford. During the First World War, Royle flew with the Royal Flying Corps, where he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. For a while, he lived in Shepherds Bush in London, after which he moved to Pavilion Terrace in Hammersmith. In 1923, Tony Royle married Lola Onslow, best known as the illustrator of Enid Blyton's children's novels. They had three sons together. After his wife's death in 1952, Royle remarried to Una Nurton.
'Poll, Jock and Valentine' (Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 17 June 1925).
Career
During the 1920s, Royle worked in the advertising department of the Philips Film Company. His signature also appeared in the newspaper the Daily Graphic, where he drew the funny animal comic strip 'Poll, Jock and Valentine', which was a direct copy from the Daily Mirror's 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred' by Austin Bowen Payne. Between 1925 and 1928, the strip also ran in the Newcastle Daily Chronicle.
'Belinda' (18 May 1944).
In 1943, Royle took over the artwork of 'Belinda' (until 1939 known as 'Belinda Blue Eyes'), a soap opera comic which ran in The Daily Mirror. The adventures of the red-haired girl Belinda were originally written by William "Bill" Connor and drawn by Stephen Dowling, while the name "Gloria" appeared in the credit byline. When Royle became the new artist, Don Freeman was assigned as the new scriptwriter. Some 1952 episodes were written by Peter O’Donnell. Royle continued the series until the final episode, published on 17 October 1959. At the Daily Mirror, Tony Royle also served as ghost artist for the 'Just Jake' strip, whenever the alcoholism of series creator Bernard Graddon caused deadline problems.
Death
During the last seven years of his life, Tony Royle lived in the village of Badsey, Worcestershire. After a severe illness, he passed away in 1966 at age 67.
Tony Royle.