Norman Pett
Norman Pett (12 April 1891 – 16 February 1960) was an English artist who, in 1932, created the famous cartoon character Jane for the Daily Mirror.
Norman Pett
The National Archives UK · Animal Farm artwork · Public domain
- Born
- 1891 · Birmingham.
- Died
- 1960 · Sussex.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- draftsperson · illustrator · cartoonist
- Languages
- English
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Norman Pett (12 April 1891 – 16 February 1960) was an English artist who, in 1932, created the famous cartoon character Jane for the Daily Mirror.
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wikidata · Q1556747 · wikipedia · Norman Pett
In this article
Early life
Early life
Pett was born on 12 April 1891 in Kings Norton, Worcestershire. After being invalided out of the First World War, he studied art at the Press Art School. Later, he taught art at the Mosley Road Junior Art School and at Birmingham Central School of Art.
Jane
Jane
In 1932, he set out to create a comic strip that would be as popular to adults as the famous Pip, Squeak and Wilfred was to children. And so, Jane was created. For the first few years, Pett's wife Mary modeled for him but eventually, he started to use professional models instead, the most famous of which was Chrystabel Leighton-Porter who modeled for him during World War II. Until the war, Jane had a little daily funny story, but at the start of the war, she became a continuous story. "The turning point in Jane's career, when she became a success, was when we turned her from a daily joke into a continuous story. In other words, when she was stripped in both senses of the term," Pett told Pathé News in 1943. Pett retired from drawing Jane after drawing her for 16 years in 1948, and the strip was continued by Michael Hubbard.
Death
Death
He died at his home in Sussex on 16 February 1960 of undisclosed causes.
Mr. Punch's history of the Great War p271
Norman Pett
Description: Preliminary drawing for design of Animal Farm strip cartoon. In 1950 the Foreign Office commissioned a strip cartoon version of Animal Farm from the cartoonist Norman Pett and his writing partner Donald Freeman. Various embassies then encouraged overseas newspapers to publish the anti-communist strip. It was translated into a number of languages and also turned into a slide show for p
The National Archives UK · Animal Farm artwork
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1891
Norman Pett born at Birmingham.
1960
Norman Pett died at Sussex.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Birmingham.
Birth place
Sussex.
Death place
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Saunders, Andy. Jane: A Pin-up at War. Casemate Publishers. 2003. 9781844150274.
- 2.Holloway, John. The Slumber of Apollo: Reflections on Recent Art, Literature, Language and the Individual Consciousness. Cambridge University Press. 33. 1983. 9780521248044.
- 3.Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006.
- 4.Quetteville, Harry. Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer: An Anthology of Great Lives in 365 Days - The Telegraph. Aurum Press. 2012. 9781781311080.
- 5.British Pathé. Jane 1943.
- 6.Horn, Maurice. The World encyclopedia of comics, Volume 1. Chelsea House Publishers. 335. 1976. 9780877540427.
References
Citations
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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