James Kemsley

James Kemsley (born November 15 1948) is an Australian cartoonist who draws Jimmy Bancks' original creation, Ginger Meggs.

Early TV and Acting Career

He has a background in acting and television. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Kemsley was known to children's television audiences as "Skeeter the Paperboy", an on-screen cap-wearing persona that he portrayed as a cast member of The Super Flying Fun Show, and then as host of Skeeter's Cartoon Corner in Sydney and Melbourne, both on the Nine Network. The daily afternoon program offered a mix of US-based cartoons (such as Wacky Races, Scooby Doo and The Archies), with viewer competitions. One of his tag lines on the telephone with viewer contestants who were unsuccessful was "golly gosh". When Kemsley left in 1973 Johnny Farnham took over the time slot. A later host was Greg Bepper ("Cartoon Corner with Greg"), who had a 70s-style persona of his own - that of pinball wizard, who became known for playing for prizes for home contestants on a studio pinball machine.

During 1973 James Kemsley compered a variety program on the Nine Network titled Junior Cabaret. He also appeared in the ABC TV mini-series The Cousin From Fiji and Seven Little Australians.

Kemsley studied acting at the Independent Theatre of Dramatic Art from 1969 - 1972 under Doris Fitton and attended the Playwright Forum at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1973 under the directorship of David Whittaker. He went on to write three successful children's plays, "The Land Of Coloured Dreams", "Once Upon A Time... And All That" and "The Magical Adventures of Puck".

Kemsley left Channel Nine and then studied in England at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 1979.

Cartoonist

In the 1980s Kemsley was invited to take over the syndicated comic Ginger Meggs, and several comic books featuring the character have been published.

He has also contributed to The Traralgon Journal, Adelaide's Sunday Mail, Sydney's The Sun-Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Telegraph. Kemsley has served as the President of the Australian Cartoonists' Association.

Awards include the 2001 Australian Cartoonist's Association, Stanley Award for Cartoonist of the Year. In 1990 & 2004, Ginger Meggs was voted Australia's comic strip of the year.

Under Kemsley's pen and Atlantic Syndication's marketing "Ginger Meggs" appears in newspapers in over 30 countries.

References

• Portrait of James Kemsley, 1996 by Gary Ede
• Kemsley's T'rific Trivia (1988)

Select Bibliography of Kemsley's Books

• The Pocket Frogin' (Commercial Publications 1981 London)
• Ginger Meggs at Large (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1985).
• A Look Inside Ginger Meggs (Melbourne: Budget Books, 1988).
• What's My Name Mean? (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1987).
• The Infamous Adventures of Ginger Meggs (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1987).
• Kemsley's T'rific Trivia (Melbourne: Budget Books, 1988).
• Wake Up, Ginger Meggs (North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1989).
• The Cartoon Book (Sydney, New York: Scholastic, 1990).
• The Cartoon Book 2 (Sydney, New York: Scolastic,1994)
• Images of Bradman with Peter Allen (Sydney: Allen and Kemsley, 1994).
• Some Day's You're a Legend - Some Days You Ain't (Sydney: Allen and Kemsley, 1995).
• When You're Into Graffiti - The Writing's On The Wall (Sydney: Allen and Kemsley, 1998).

External links

• GoComics[1]
• Ginger Meggs [2]