The Late Bill Tidy MBE
Bill Tidy was the phenomenally talented cartoonist, author, writer, TV and radio presenter, renowned for his memorable and hilarious cartoons. His unique wit and indomitable style was popular for over 60 years and he had many fans across the globe. Many will remember his truly memorable cartoon strips such as The Fosdyke Saga and The Cloggies. He had an exceptional and innate ability to tailor highly amusing cartoons to any theme irrespective of the occasion and however sensitive or diverse the subject matter may be was
Expertise
Humour, Media & Journalism, TV Presenter.
Talents
More about Bill Tidy MBE
Bill Tidy was born in Tranmere, Cheshire, 9 October 1933, moved to Liverpool for the Blitz and survived. He left school to work in a shipping office. Bill joined the Royal Engineers, and was stationed in Germany, Korea and Japan. He sold his first cartoon to an English speaking Japanese newspaper in 1955, left the army in 1956, returned to Liverpool and found work in an advertising agency. Bill took to cartooning professionally in 1957 after plans to emigrate to Canada fell through. Instead Bill flew to London for a job interview and sat next to a young Italian lady who became his wife in 1960. Bill and Rosa have 3 children: Sylvia, Nick (died 2004) and Rob.
Famed for cartoon strips; ‘THE FOSDYKE SAGA’ (Daily Mirror) and ‘THE CLOGGIES’ (Private Eye), ‘DR. WHITTLE’ (General Practitioner), which ran for over 25 years and ‘KEGBUSTER’ in CAMRA’s monthly magazine, ‘What’s Brewing?’ He also regularly contributed to Classic FM magazine, The Oldie and Punch. He contributed to to Private Eye until well into his 80’s. His love of archaeology was also reflected in his professional life, as he was a contributing cartoonist to three archaeological magazines; BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGY, ANTIQUITY and the ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA.
Bill appeared on many shows; ‘COUNTDOWN’, ‘WATERCOLOUR CHALLENGE’ & ‘COLLECTOR’S LOT’ (C4), ‘THROUGH THE KEYHOLE’ (twice!) & ALPHABET GAME (BBC) ‘OPEN HOUSE’ (C5) & ‘SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE’ (R4). He wrote and presented ‘TIDY UP WALSALL’, TIDY UP NAPLES’ ‘THREE DAYS LAST SUMMER and ‘DRAW ME’, a 13 part children’s TV series. Has guest presented; ‘FOOD FILE’ (C4), ‘COUNTRYFILE’ (BBC) and ‘SKY SPORTS’ Saturday morning show. He has also been a recipient of ‘THIS IS YOUR LIFE’.
Bill had the totally amazing ability to turn his hand to any subject often offering unique visual communication during his thrilling after dinner, training or product presentations. This put along side his phenomenally ‘quick on the draw’ humour, enthralled audiences again and again and many leading companies such as STENA LINES, PAGE & MOY, LLOYDSTSB, JCB, ICI called for his services. He worked with advertising & PR groups who sought his help in their campaigns; sales conference speaking, product launches, open days etc. Clients include EASYJET, YAKULT, BATCHELORS, BT, EAST MIDLANDS AIRPORT & MARKS AND SPENCER. Bill spent a lot of time producing exclusive personalised cartoon publicity in the form of original limited editions, Christmas cards and calendars specifically aimed at companies, tailoring each drawing to their corporate identity. Clients include VIRGIN HOLIDAYS, HALIFAX PROPERTY SERVICES, BOOTS, BASS BREWERS, HOLIDAY INN and AUTOGLASS.
Writer of more than 20 books and illustrator of over 70; ‘THE WORLD’S WORST GOLF CLUB’, his autobiography ‘IS THERE ANY NEWS OF THE ICEBERG?’, ‘BILL TIDY’S BOOK OF QUOTATIONS’, DISGRACEFUL ARCHAEOLOGY’ with Dr. Paul Bahn and most recently, ‘THE GREATEST CRICKETER OF THEM ALL’, volume one of a series of Sporting Legends. Bill also wrote and illustrated children’s books. He designed board games, ventriloquist dummies, stage sets and the ‘IT’S A KNOCKOUT’ trophy; receiving Granada TV’s ‘CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR’ award in 1974 and ‘SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS’ award in 1980.
He was awarded a MBE in 2000 and was the President of The Lord’s Taverners in 2008 He was an avid reader of history books and would have been delighted that his football team Everton won on the day he died. Bill passed away peacefully on March 11th 2023 with his daughter Sylvia and son Rob along with son in law Fred present.
Obituaries included:
Images
Videos
Media
TV & Radio
Bill Tidy has appeared on countless TV shows and series over the years and they include many episodes of ‘Countdown’ (C4), ‘Watercolour Challenge’ (C4), , ‘Celebrity Squares’ (ITV), ‘Quick On The Draw’ (ITV), ‘Blankety Blank’ (BBC), ‘Collector’s Lot’ (C4), ‘Through The Keyhole’ (ITV), ‘Alphabet Game’ (BBC), ‘Open House’ (C5. He also presented Tidy Up Naples (BBC) and Draw Me’ (BBC), and was the subject of’ This Is Your Life’ (BBC).
Books
Writer of more than 20 books and illustrator of over 70, here is but a small selection of Bill’s recent works:
‘The World’s Worst Golf Club'(Queen Anne Press 1987)
‘Is The Any News of The Iceberg?'(Smith Gryphon 1995)
‘Bill Tidy’s Book of Quotations’ (Harper Collins 1998)
‘Disgraceful Archaeology’ (NPI Media Group 1999)
‘Ancient Obscenities: Or Things You Shouldn’t Know About The History of Mankind'(The Chalford Press 2006)
‘How Safe Is Your Home’ (Spring Hill 2006)