Norman Pett biography

Norman Pett (12 April 1891 - 16 February 1960; Kings Norton, Worcestershire, UK)

Pett was an English artist, born in Kings Norton, Worcestershire, England. After being invalided out of the First World War, he studied art at the Press Art School. Later, he taught art at the Mosley Road Junior Art School and at Birmingham Central School of Art.

In 1932, he set out to create a comic strip that would be as popular to adults as the famous 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred' was to children. And so, the famous cartoon character Jane was created. For the first few years, Pett's wife Mary modelled for him but eventually he started to use professional models instead, the most famous of which was Chrystabel Leighton-Porter who modelled for him during World War Two.

Until the war, Jane had a little daily funny story, but at the start of the war, she became a continuous story. "The turning point in Jane's career, when she became a success was when we turned her from a daily joke into a continuous story. In other words, when she was stripped in both senses of the term," Pett told Pathé News in 1943. Pett retired from drawing Jane after drawing her for 16 years in 1948, and the strip was continued by Michael Hubbard.

He died at his home in Sussex on 16 February 1960 of undisclosed causes.
Source: Illustration Art Gallery

See NORMAN PETT ART.