In the late fifties Searle made a series of full colour portraits of contemporary 'heroes' for
Punch magazine. They were published as 'centre-fold' spreads. I believe there were 12 -I haven't found all of them, if anyone can complete the series please email me scans to the address in my Blogger profile. (Thanks to Stephen who filled in the gaps).
Malcolm Sargent ‘Heroes of our Time' 1
Pencil sketches of Malcolm Sargent made at rehearsal in the Albert Hall
Mr Gilbert Harding -television personality. Number 2 in the
'Heroes of Our Time' series. 'Punch' magazine 19 September 1956
'Behold in me the common people's sage,
The Plato of the television age.
In place of wisdom, piety or grace
I offer endless prospects of my face.'
Gilbert Charles Harding (5 June 1907, Hereford – 16 November 1960, London) was a British journalist and radio and television personality. His many careers included schoolmaster, journalist, police officer, disc-jockey, interviewer and television presenter. He also appeared in several films, sometimes in character parts but usually as himself.
His father was killed at an early age and so his mother placed him into the care of The Royal Orphanage of Wolverhampton. He went on to attend Cambridge University before teaching English in Canada and France. Harding returned to Britain and worked as a police officer in Bradford. He then took a position as The Times correspondent in Cyprus. In 1936 he again returned to England and began a long-term career with the BBC.
He regularly appeared on the BBC television programme What's My Line? as a panelist (Harding was the presenter of the very first episode in 1951).
Harding was infamous for bullying his interviewees and was at one time known as "the rudest man in Britain". His fame sprang from an inability to suffer fools and many 1950's TV viewers watched What's My Line? less for the quiz elements than for the chance of a live Harding outburst. An incident on an early broadcast started this trend when Harding became annoyed with a rather self-satisfied contestant. He broke the genteel civility of 1950s BBC Television by telling the contestant that he was getting bored with him. The tabloids lapped this up and the show became compulsive viewing. (Wikipedia)
3 Lord Goddard
Punch, October 3, 1956
Aneurin Bevan
‘Heroes of our Time' 4
T S Eliot - Number 5 in the
'Heroes of Our Time' series. 'Punch' magazine 14 November 1956
'What we praise most, in your adopted land,
Are all the things we cannot understand.
So stand not on the Order of your Merit;
England has honours yet you may inherit.
Pile fame on fame, reflecting as you go
"Omne ignotum pro magnifico".'
Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965), was a poet, dramatist, and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Among his most famous writings are the poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday and Four Quartets; the plays Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party; and the essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent".
Eliot was born in the United States, moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 (at age 25), and became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39. Of his nationality and its role in his work, Eliot said: "[My poetry] wouldn’t be what it is if I’d been born in England, and it wouldn’t be what it is if I’d stayed in America. It’s a combination of things. But in its sources, in its emotional springs, it comes from America." (Wikipedia)
'Punch' magazine 5 December 1956 Number 6 in the
'Heroes of Our Time' series.
Lord Beaverbrook / Daily Express / Newspaper mogul / journalism / Canadian tycoon
'The Beaver has a notion that without his guiding hand
Our grand Imperial destiny's a castle built on sand.
Contrariwise, observers of his journalistic capers
Can estimate the influence of an empire built on papers.'
Princess Margaret ‘
Heroes of our Time' 7
'Punch' magazine 9 January 1957 Number 8 in the
'Heroes of Our Time' series.
The Dean of Canterbury Hewlett Johnson
'What curious creed does Hewlett preach,
What singular gospel spread?
Perhaps that the doctrines the Christians teach
Should all be taken as red.'
The Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson (25 January 1874 - 22 October 1966), was an English clergyman, Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury, where he acquired his nickname The Red Dean of Canterbury for his unyielding support for the Soviet Union and its allies. (Wikipedia)
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh ‘Heroes of our Time' 9
Number 10 in the
'Heroes of Our Time' series.
The Marquess of Salisbury 'Punch' magazine 27 February 1957
'I come from haunts of duke and earl;
I ornament the Tories;
Encrowned with strawberry-leaf and pearl;
I shine among their glories.
The House of Lords I may bring low,
And rank from ruling sever;
For peers may come and peers may go,
But Cecils rule for ever.'
Brian Robertson ‘Heroes of our Time' 11
Lord Russell / Conrad / Lib Dem peer. Number 12 in the 'Heroes of Our Time' series. 'Punch' magazine 27 March 1957
'All earthly knowledge finally explored,
Man feels himself from doubt and dogma free.
There are more things in Heaven, though, my lord,
Than are dreamed of in your philosophy.'
Nov. 20-22 I'll be at the CTN-X animation conference in Burbank, LA. I'm giving a presentation on Searle's work in animation & film titles. Support materials will include a slideshow of the 2 sketchbooks Searle filled on the sets of SCROOGE and MONTE CARLO OR BUST! and I'll be screening several animated shorts Searle collaborated on with Ivor Wood.
