Phil May (caricaturist)

Philip William May was an English caricaturist who, with his vigorous economy of line, played an important role in moving away from Victorian styles of illustration towards the creation of the modern humorous cartoon.

Phil May was born at Wortley, near Leeds, the son of an engineer. His father died when the child was nine years old. His mother was the daughter of Eugene Macarthy, one time manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She was left in very poor circumstances and the family had a great struggle to exist. His grandfather, a country gentleman, had some talent as a draughtsman and liked making caricatures. At the age of twelve, in Leeds, Phil became friendly with Fred Fox, whose father was the scenic artist at the recently opened Grand Theatre. This gave him a free run of the theatre, where he used to sketch sections of other peoples designs for costumes, as well as sketching actors portraits for which he received a shilling, later rising to five shillings. Another of his contemporaries was Walter Curtis, who became prominent as a music hall comedian and general entertainer. Soon, Phil May had begun to earn his living in a solicitors office before he was fifteen he had acted as timekeeper at

Source: Wikipedia