Ben Wicks

• Birth Name — Alfred Wicks • Born — 1 October 1926 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 10 September 2000 • Place of death — Toronto, Ontario, Canada • Nationality — British, Canadian • Area — Cartoonist • Notable Works — Wicks • Spouse — Doreen Mary Wicks • Nonus — yes

Wicks was born into a working-class family in the East End of London. He learned to play the saxophone while serving in the British Army and later toured Europe as a musician. Wicks and his wife, Doreen Wicks, immigrated to Canada in 1957. They initially settled in Calgary, where he worked at various jobs, including as a milkman, and later joined the Canadian Army as a musician. During this period, he studied cartooning and began submitting cartoons to magazines. One of his early successes was publication in The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1963, Wicks travelled to Toronto to explore opportunities as a cartoonist and met Toronto Telegram cartoonist Norman Drew. After subsequently moving to Toronto, Wicks began drawing The Outcasts for the Telegram. The cartoon was eventually syndicated to more than 50 newspapers. After the Telegram ceased publication in 1971, Wicks's work was picked up by the Toronto Star. His daily cartoon, later titled Wicks, became widely syndicated. At its peak, it appeared in 84 Canadian newspapers and more than 100 newspapers in the United States. Wicks also became a frequent guest on Canadian television and radio and hosted his own television program on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 1970s.

Wicks was involved in a number of humanitarian campaigns. He used his cartoons to draw attention to civilian suffering during the Biafran War and became involved with Oxfam. During the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, he organized Cartoonists for Africa to raise money and public awareness. He also promoted children's literacy during the later part of his career. In 1986, Wicks was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. In 1997, Wicks donated archival material to Ryerson University.

• Ben Wicks' Canada, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1976, • No Time to Wave Goodbye, Stoddart, Toronto, 1988, • The Day They Took the Children, Stoddart, Toronto, 1989, • Waiting for the All Clear, Bloomsbury, London, 1990, • Katie and Orbie Save the Planet, 1991, illustrator, • Dawn of the Promised Land: The Creation of Israel, Stoddart, 1997,

Ben Wicks is recorded as cartoonist, journalist, caricaturist, illustrator and writer.