John Berry (illustrator)

John Leslie Berry (9 June 1920 – 10 December 2009) was a British illustrator. He came up with the idea for the iconic Esso tiger adverts.[1]

Early life

He was born in Hammersmith. In 1934 he went to Hammersmith College of Art.

Esso tiger on a billboard in Belfast

Career

He served as an official war artist, attached to the Eighth Army

Ladybird Books

Between 1961 and 1978 he illustrated thirty five Ladybird books, working alongside Frank Hampson, Charles Tunnicliffe and Harry Wingfield. He worked on their Key Words Reading Scheme.

Esso

In 1951 he designed the tiger for Esso, that put a tiger in your tank. He was paid £25 for the slogan that he invented.

Portrait painter

He painted portraits of the Queen, and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Personal life

He married June East in 1951. They had three sons and two daughters. She died in 1986. He remarried in 1989 to Jessie Showell.

He retired to Hatton, Derbyshire.

References

External links

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