James Kemsley
Encyclopedia
James Lawrence Kemsley OAM
(15 November 1948 – 3 December 2007) was an Australian cartoonist who drew Jimmy Bancks
' original creation, Ginger Meggs
.
suburb of Paddington, but lived for a few years with his parents and sister in New Guinea
where his father served as mastor of patrol boats. He then attended the Roman Catholic boarding schools, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College (1958-60) and Chevalier College
(1961-62), both located in Bowral, New South Wales
. He also attended the Christian Brothers College at Rose Bay (1962-63). Afterwards he lived for a while with his father in Traralgon, Victoria
.
, North Sydney
(1968-71) as well as a National Institute of Dramatic Art Playwright Forum in 1973 and a RADA Professional Workshop in London in 1979.
Kemsley's background was in acting and television. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Kemsley was known to children's television audiences as "Skeeter the Paperboy", an on-screen cap-wearing persona (who once said his full name was Amos Skeeter - a play on "a mosquito") that he portrayed as a cast member of The Super Flying Fun Show, and then as host of Skeeter's Cartoon Corner in Sydney
and Melbourne
, both on the Nine Network
.
The daily afternoon program offered a mix of US-based cartoons (such as Wacky Races
, Scooby Doo and The Archies
), with viewer competitions. One of his tag lines on the telephone with viewer contestants who were unsuccessful was "golly gosh". When Kemsley left in 1973, John Farnham
took over the time slot.
In 1973 Kemsley compered a variety program on the Nine Network titled Junior Cabaret. He also appeared in the ABC TV mini-series The Cousin From Fiji and Seven Little Australians
.
Kemsley studied acting at the Independent Theatre of Dramatic Art from 1969 - 1972 under Doris Fitton
and attended the Playwright Forum at the National Institute of Dramatic Art
(NIDA) in 1973 under the directorship of David Whittaker. He went on to write three successful children's plays, "The Land Of Coloured Dreams", "Once Upon A Time... And All That" and "The Magical Adventures of Puck".
Kemersley left Channel Nine and then studied in England at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 1979.
, and several comic books featuring the character have since been published.
He has also contributed to The Traralgon Journal, Adelaide
's Sunday Mail, Sydney
's The Sun-Herald
, The Sydney Morning Herald
and The Daily Telegraph
. Kemsley has twice served as the President of the Australian Cartoonists' Association.
Awards include the 2001 Stanley Award for Cartoonist of the Year, presented by the Australian Cartoonist's Association
. In 1990 & 2004, Kemsley received the Stanley for Comic Strip Artist, as voted by his peers. Under Kemsley's pen and Atlantic Syndication's marketing, "Ginger Meggs" now appears in newspapers in over 120 newspaper in 30 countries.
Kemsley continued to draw the Ginger Meggs strip until he died at his home in Bowral, New South Wales
on 3 December 2007 after a two-year battle with motor neuron disease.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(15 November 1948 – 3 December 2007) was an Australian cartoonist who drew Jimmy Bancks
Jimmy Bancks
James Charles Bancks or Jimmy Bancks was an Australian cartoonist best known for his comic strip Ginger Meggs....
' original creation, Ginger Meggs
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....
.
Childhood
James Kemsley was born in the SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Paddington, but lived for a few years with his parents and sister in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
where his father served as mastor of patrol boats. He then attended the Roman Catholic boarding schools, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College (1958-60) and Chevalier College
Chevalier College
Chevalier College is a Catholic co-educational school in Bowral, New South Wales conducted by the priests and brothers of the international religious order, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart...
(1961-62), both located in Bowral, New South Wales
Bowral, New South Wales
-Attractions:Bowral is perhaps the best known of the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands, and in recent years has become the commercial centre of the Wingecarribee Shire. Bowral is known for its boutiques, antique stores, gourmet restaurants, and rich coffee culture.Bowral is home to the...
. He also attended the Christian Brothers College at Rose Bay (1962-63). Afterwards he lived for a while with his father in Traralgon, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
.
Early TV and Acting Career
Kemsley attended the Independent School of Dramatic ArtIndependent Theatre
The Independent Theatre was a dramatic society founded in 1930 by Doris Fitton , and was also the name given to the building it occupied from 1938. It was named for London's Independent Theatre Society founded by J. T...
, North Sydney
North Sydney, New South Wales
North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Sydney is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney...
(1968-71) as well as a National Institute of Dramatic Art Playwright Forum in 1973 and a RADA Professional Workshop in London in 1979.
Kemsley's background was in acting and television. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Kemsley was known to children's television audiences as "Skeeter the Paperboy", an on-screen cap-wearing persona (who once said his full name was Amos Skeeter - a play on "a mosquito") that he portrayed as a cast member of The Super Flying Fun Show, and then as host of Skeeter's Cartoon Corner in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, both on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
.
The daily afternoon program offered a mix of US-based cartoons (such as Wacky Races
Wacky Races
Wacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." Wacky Races ran on CBS from September...
, Scooby Doo and The Archies
The Archies
The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...
), with viewer competitions. One of his tag lines on the telephone with viewer contestants who were unsuccessful was "golly gosh". When Kemsley left in 1973, John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
took over the time slot.
In 1973 Kemsley compered a variety program on the Nine Network titled Junior Cabaret. He also appeared in the ABC TV mini-series The Cousin From Fiji and Seven Little Australians
Seven Little Australians
Seven Little Australians is a classic Australian children's novel by Ethel Turner. Set mainly in Sydney in the 1880s, it relates the adventures of the seven mischievous Woolcot children, their stern army father Captain Woolcot and flighty stepmother Esther.In 1994 the novel was the only book by an...
.
Kemsley studied acting at the Independent Theatre of Dramatic Art from 1969 - 1972 under Doris Fitton
Doris Fitton
Doris Alice Fitton Mason, DBE was an Australian actress and theatrical director who founded and for 35 years headed Sydney's Independent Theatre, staging a diverse range of local and international dramas, many for the first time in Australia, including Sumner Locke-Elliott's wartime comedy, Rusty...
and attended the Playwright Forum at the National Institute of Dramatic Art
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
(NIDA) in 1973 under the directorship of David Whittaker. He went on to write three successful children's plays, "The Land Of Coloured Dreams", "Once Upon A Time... And All That" and "The Magical Adventures of Puck".
Kemersley left Channel Nine and then studied in England at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 1979.
Cartoonist
In 1984 Kemsley was invited to take over the syndicated comic strip, Ginger MeggsGinger 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....
, and several comic books featuring the character have since been published.
He has also contributed to The Traralgon Journal, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
's Sunday Mail, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald is an Australian tabloid newspaper published on Sundays in Sydney by Fairfax Media. It is the Sunday counterpart of The Sydney Morning Herald. In the 6 months to September 2005, The Sun-Herald had a circulation of 515,000...
, The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. Kemsley has twice served as the President of the Australian Cartoonists' Association.
Awards include the 2001 Stanley Award for Cartoonist of the Year, presented by the Australian Cartoonist's Association
Australian Cartoonist's Association
The Australian Cartoonists' Association is the Australian professional cartoonists' organisation and was established on 17 July 1924 as the Society of Australian Black and White Artists....
. In 1990 & 2004, Kemsley received the Stanley for Comic Strip Artist, as voted by his peers. Under Kemsley's pen and Atlantic Syndication's marketing, "Ginger Meggs" now appears in newspapers in over 120 newspaper in 30 countries.
Kemsley continued to draw the Ginger Meggs strip until he died at his home in Bowral, New South Wales
Bowral, New South Wales
-Attractions:Bowral is perhaps the best known of the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands, and in recent years has become the commercial centre of the Wingecarribee Shire. Bowral is known for its boutiques, antique stores, gourmet restaurants, and rich coffee culture.Bowral is home to the...
on 3 December 2007 after a two-year battle with motor neuron disease.
External links
- GoComics
- Ginger Meggs website
- Portrait of James Kemsley, 1996 by Gary Ede
- Kemsley's T'rific Trivia (1988)
- Biodata
Select Bibliography of Kemsley's Books
- The Pocket Frogin' (Commercial Publications 1981 London)
- Ginger Meggs at Large (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1985).
- A Look Inside Ginger Meggs (Melbourne: Budget Books, 1988).
- What's My Name Mean? (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1987).
- The Infamous Adventures of Ginger Meggs (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1987).
- Kemsley's T'rific Trivia (Melbourne: Budget Books, 1988).
- Wake Up, Ginger Meggs (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1989).
- The Cartoon Book (Sydney, New York: Scholastic, 1990).
- The Cartoon Book 2 (Sydney, New York: Scolastic,1994)
- Images of Bradman with Peter Allen (Sydney: Allen and Kemsley, 1994).
- Some Day's You're a Legend - Some Days You Ain't (Sydney: Allen and Kemsley, 1995).
- When You're Into Graffiti - The Writing's On The Wall (Sydney: Allen and Kemsley, 1998).