Bernard Cookson
Like many cartoonists before him, ‘Cookson’ started his cartooning career in Fleet Street. He was the Social/Political Cartoonist for The Evening News from 1969-76, and then took over the TV strip ‘The Niteleys’ for the Daily Sketch. He was a regular cartoonist for Punch (responsible for many of its front covers), The Sporting Life and Today.
Those were heady days. Wapping riots, IRA bomb threats and the Falklands war, all provided the perfect foil for the long, wine-fuelled lunches in El Vino’s, which were practically compulsory for any self-respecting journalist or cartoonist of the day.
During this extraordinary era, Cookson found time in the evenings to collaborate with his long-term friend and fellow-cartoonist ‘Mac’ of The Mail, to write highly successful comedy scripts for The Two Ronnies, Dave Allen and Tommy Cooper. They are still credited in the titles of the repeats.
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