Gerald Lip
Cartoonist BORN MAY 12, 1929 – DIED JANUARY 28, 2021, AGED 91
DAILY Express cartoonist Gerald Lip was a prolific artist who contributed to Rupert Bear, Modesty Blaise and Garfield, working solidly up until his final day.
A cartoon editor at the Express and later one of its long-term freelancers, Gerald also worked for the Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and London Evening Standard.
His expertise lay in lettering artistry, following in the footsteps of his father, and he crafted the text for the James Bond strips in the Express before 007 hit the big screen.
Gerald’s talent saw him land another British spy series, Modesty Blaise, as the Evening Standard’s first lettering artist in 1963.
He edited and coloured Rupert Bear for more than two decades.
Speaking about her “incredibly talented” husband, Judy Lip said: “When you marry an artist or writer you have to understand straightaway that their love of their art will always come before everything else. But despite his obsession and love for his work, he was a wonderful father.”
Gerald Lip was born in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, the eldest of three sons.
He was given a place at the Royal Art Academy, where aged 16, he became its youngest artist on display with his picture of a church bombed during the Second World War.
He opted to work for the advertising agency Lintas and continued his studies at St. Martin’s School of Art before completing his National Service. For 35 years he drew historic Sussex buildings for profile pieces in The Argus. He eschewed computers, preferring to complete everything by hand.
He died from a heart attack and is survived by his wife Judy, their daughters, Elaine and Geraldine, and four grandsons.