Russell Taylor (cartoonist)

Russell Philip Taylor MBE (born 8 July 1960) is a British writer, journalist and composer. He is best known as half of the team (with Charles Peattie) that created the comic strip Alex.[1]

Russell Philip Taylor
Born (1960-07-08) 8 July 1960

Education

Taylor studied at Abingdon School from 1973–1978. During his time at the school he was on the editorial board of The Abingdonian.[2] He then read Russian and Philosophy at St Anne's College, Oxford.[3]

Alex

Alex was created by Taylor and Charles Peattie and it first appeared in the London Daily News which ran from 24 February to 23 July 1987.[4] The cartoon then appeared in The Independent during 1987 before moving to The Daily Telegraph in 1992.[5]

The cartoon strip was so popular that it was subject to a nationwide billboard campaign before it switched to The Daily Telegraph.[5] Taylor is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur football club, and as a private joke (and to avoid libel accusations) always names characters who are fired in the Alex strip after Tottenham footballers.[6][7]

Alex was turned into a stage play by Peattie and Taylor and was performed at the Arts Theatre, London in October, 2007. Robert Bathurst portrayed the titular character.[8]

Other works

He also writes TV and film music with Steve Cooke. Among others, they composed the music for the documentaries The Dying Rooms in 1995 and Saving Africa's Witch Children – both of which won BAFTAs in 1996 and 2009 respectively.[9][10]

He has also written books on Russia and marathon running and was appointed Member of the British Empire in the 2002 New Year Honours.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Friday, 19 October 2018". Alex cartoon.com.
  2. "Editorial Board" (PDF). The Abingdonian. June 1979. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. "Russell Taylor Column" (PDF). St Annes.
  4. "Concise History of the British Newspaper in the Twentieth Century", British Library Help for Researchers
  5. "ALEX (CHARLES PEATTIE AND RUSSELL TAYLOR)". Original political cartoon.com.
  6. ""The Spurs Show 2 April 2009 episode". Spurs.wippit.com. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  7. "To the point funny: the men drawn to Alex". The Daily Telegraph.
  8. Shenton, Mark (30 August 2008). "Alex, Live Stage Version of Newspaper Cartoon, to Tour Prior to London Season". Playbill. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  9. "Television Craft in 1996". Bafta.
  10. "Television Current Affairs in 2009". Bafta.
  11. "New Year Honours". The Guardian. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
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