Syd Nicholls
Encyclopedia
Sydney 'Syd' Wentworth Nicholls (20 December 18963 June 1977) was an Australia
n cartoonist and commercial artist, best known for the long-running comic strip Fatty Finn
.
on 20 December 1986, the son of a watchmaker Hubert George Jordan and his wife Arabella Cluidunning, née Bartsche. He adopted his stepfather's surname when his mother remarried in 1907. The family moved to New Zealand
and Nichools attended a wide variety of schools in New Zealand and New South Wales
before taking his first job with the printing firm of W.E. Smith in 1910. He studied for seven years under Norman Carter and Antonio Dattilo Rubbo at the Royal Art Society of New South Wales.
His first published work appeared in the International Socialist in 1912, at the age of sixteen and by the time he was eighteen he was having cartoons accepted by The Bulletin
, Australian Worker and Australasian Seaman's Journal. Politically committed, Nicholls contributed cartoons to Direct Action, the publication of the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1914 one of these cartoons was instrumental in the paper's editor, Tom Barker, being sentenced to 12 months in jail for 'publishing material prejudical to recruitment'. Nicholls's art titles for Raymond Longford
's film, The Sentimental Bloke
in 1919, brought him work for other films. In 1920 he visited the US to study art-title designs for motion pictures. On his return to Sydney, he joined the staff of the Sydney Evening News in 1923 as senior artist. Sir Errol Knox, the editor, asked him to create a comic in colour for the Sunday News supplement to compete with Us Fellers
drawn by Jimmy Bancks
for the rival Sydney Sunday Sun.
Nicholls produced Fat and His Friends, first published on 16 September 1923. 'Initially presented as a Billy Bunter
ish comedy figure, complete with straw boater, Fatty Finn evolved . . . into a knockabout schoolboy innocently living out his days in a never-never urban world'. On August 1924 the title of the strip was changed to Fatty Finn
, heralding a change in the strip's direction and the role of the main character. Fatty Finn came to be recognized as one of the best-drawn comics in Australia and vied with Ginger Meggs in popularity.
In 1927 a film called The Kid Stakes
was produced by Tal Ordell, featuring Fatty Finn and his goat, Hector. The film also contained a segment showing Nicolls at his drawing board, creating his famous characters. Three coloured Fatty Finn Annuals were published during 1928-30. The strip survived the absorptions of the Sunday News into the Sunday Guardian (1930) and of the latter by the Sunday Sun (1931). Nicholls had thrice tried, in 1928 and 1929, to introduce a dream sequence into Fatty Finn, involving pirates, cannibals and highwaymen, but was forced by Knox to return to his original comic style. Believing that there was public interest, Nicholls drew one of the world's first adventure strips, Middy Malone, but could find no publisher. In 1931 he went to New York, seeking an outlet for Middy Malone. He recalled in an interview in 1973 that, 'Trying to place my new adventure series I found that any time I tried to compete with the local boys . . . it was a closed shop'.
Back in Sydney, Nicholls again unavailingly offered Middy Malone to a number of newspapers. Sacked without explanation in May 1933, he decided to publish his own comic books. Middy Malone in the Lost World appeared in the late 1930s; other Middy Malone adventures and the Fatty Finn Weekly, tabloid-sized, sold well. Comic books by other artists quickly followed. Unable to compete with increasing paper costs and cheap, imported American comics, Nicholls's publishing company was put out of business in 1950. Nicholls and Fatty Finn returned to newspapers, in the Sunday Herald in December 1951. Following the merger (1953) of the Sunday Herald and Sunday Sun and Guardian, they continued in the new Sun-Herald. The rivalry with Ginger Meggs was rekindled.
At the district registrar's office, Paddington, on 29 August 1942 Nicholls had married Roberta Clarice Vickery, a 25-year-old commercial artist. After being involved in having the Sydney Press Club stripped of its licence, Nicholls was a founder (1939), president (1942-44) and vice-president (1947-49 and 1957-59) of the Journalists' Club. He also chaired the New South Wales authors' and artists' section of the Australian Journalists' Association. From the late 1940s his artwork aided the New South Wales Teachers' Federation in many of its campaigns.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n cartoonist and commercial artist, best known for the long-running comic strip Fatty Finn
Fatty Finn
Fatty Finn is a 1980 Australian film, directed by Maurice Murphy and starring Ben Oxenbould with Rebecca Rigg. It is based on the 1930s cartoon-strip character, Fatty Finn, created by Syd Nicholls and is loosely based on the 1927 silent fim, The Kid Stakes.-Plot:Set in inner-city Woolloomooloo in...
.
Biography
Syd Nicholls was born in Devonport, TasmaniaDevonport, Tasmania
-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...
on 20 December 1986, the son of a watchmaker Hubert George Jordan and his wife Arabella Cluidunning, née Bartsche. He adopted his stepfather's surname when his mother remarried in 1907. The family moved to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Nichools attended a wide variety of schools in New Zealand and New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
before taking his first job with the printing firm of W.E. Smith in 1910. He studied for seven years under Norman Carter and Antonio Dattilo Rubbo at the Royal Art Society of New South Wales.
His first published work appeared in the International Socialist in 1912, at the age of sixteen and by the time he was eighteen he was having cartoons accepted by The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
, Australian Worker and Australasian Seaman's Journal. Politically committed, Nicholls contributed cartoons to Direct Action, the publication of the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1914 one of these cartoons was instrumental in the paper's editor, Tom Barker, being sentenced to 12 months in jail for 'publishing material prejudical to recruitment'. Nicholls's art titles for Raymond Longford
Raymond Longford
Raymond Longford was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian cinema. He formed a production team with Lottie Lyell...
's film, The Sentimental Bloke
The Sentimental Bloke
The Sentimental Bloke is an Australian silent film based on the 1915 poem The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke by C.J. Dennis.The film, from the Southern Cross Feature Film Company of Adelaide, was made by Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, at that time the best known partnership in Australian cinema...
in 1919, brought him work for other films. In 1920 he visited the US to study art-title designs for motion pictures. On his return to Sydney, he joined the staff of the Sydney Evening News in 1923 as senior artist. Sir Errol Knox, the editor, asked him to create a comic in colour for the Sunday News supplement to compete with Us Fellers
Ginger Meggs
Ginger Meggs, a popular long-run Australian comic strip, was created in the early 1920s by Jimmy Bancks. The strip follows the escapades of a red-haired prepubescent mischief-maker who lives in an inner suburban working-class household....
drawn by Jimmy Bancks
Jimmy Bancks
James Charles Bancks or Jimmy Bancks was an Australian cartoonist best known for his comic strip Ginger Meggs....
for the rival Sydney Sunday Sun.
Nicholls produced Fat and His Friends, first published on 16 September 1923. 'Initially presented as a Billy Bunter
Billy Bunter
William George Bunter , is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards...
ish comedy figure, complete with straw boater, Fatty Finn evolved . . . into a knockabout schoolboy innocently living out his days in a never-never urban world'. On August 1924 the title of the strip was changed to Fatty Finn
Fatty Finn
Fatty Finn is a 1980 Australian film, directed by Maurice Murphy and starring Ben Oxenbould with Rebecca Rigg. It is based on the 1930s cartoon-strip character, Fatty Finn, created by Syd Nicholls and is loosely based on the 1927 silent fim, The Kid Stakes.-Plot:Set in inner-city Woolloomooloo in...
, heralding a change in the strip's direction and the role of the main character. Fatty Finn came to be recognized as one of the best-drawn comics in Australia and vied with Ginger Meggs in popularity.
In 1927 a film called The Kid Stakes
The Kid Stakes
The Kid Stakes is a 1927 Australian silent black and white comedy film written and directed by Tal Ordell.The screenplay is based on characters created by Syd Nicholls in his comic strip, Fatty Finn. The majority of the shooting locations for The Kid Stakes were in Woolloomooloo and Potts Point in...
was produced by Tal Ordell, featuring Fatty Finn and his goat, Hector. The film also contained a segment showing Nicolls at his drawing board, creating his famous characters. Three coloured Fatty Finn Annuals were published during 1928-30. The strip survived the absorptions of the Sunday News into the Sunday Guardian (1930) and of the latter by the Sunday Sun (1931). Nicholls had thrice tried, in 1928 and 1929, to introduce a dream sequence into Fatty Finn, involving pirates, cannibals and highwaymen, but was forced by Knox to return to his original comic style. Believing that there was public interest, Nicholls drew one of the world's first adventure strips, Middy Malone, but could find no publisher. In 1931 he went to New York, seeking an outlet for Middy Malone. He recalled in an interview in 1973 that, 'Trying to place my new adventure series I found that any time I tried to compete with the local boys . . . it was a closed shop'.
Back in Sydney, Nicholls again unavailingly offered Middy Malone to a number of newspapers. Sacked without explanation in May 1933, he decided to publish his own comic books. Middy Malone in the Lost World appeared in the late 1930s; other Middy Malone adventures and the Fatty Finn Weekly, tabloid-sized, sold well. Comic books by other artists quickly followed. Unable to compete with increasing paper costs and cheap, imported American comics, Nicholls's publishing company was put out of business in 1950. Nicholls and Fatty Finn returned to newspapers, in the Sunday Herald in December 1951. Following the merger (1953) of the Sunday Herald and Sunday Sun and Guardian, they continued in the new Sun-Herald. The rivalry with Ginger Meggs was rekindled.
At the district registrar's office, Paddington, on 29 August 1942 Nicholls had married Roberta Clarice Vickery, a 25-year-old commercial artist. After being involved in having the Sydney Press Club stripped of its licence, Nicholls was a founder (1939), president (1942-44) and vice-president (1947-49 and 1957-59) of the Journalists' Club. He also chaired the New South Wales authors' and artists' section of the Australian Journalists' Association. From the late 1940s his artwork aided the New South Wales Teachers' Federation in many of its campaigns.
Death
While in a state of mental depression, Syd Nicholls fell to his death from the balcony next door to his tenth-floor Potts Point apartment on 3 June 1977.External links
- ACE biographical portraits: the artists behind the comic book characters: the Australian comic book exhibition, Australian comics 1930s-1990s, touring Australia during 1995/96 / edited by Annette Shiell and Ingrid Unger (1994, ISBN 0-7326-0829-5)