cartoonist and art teacher, was born in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He worked as an art teacher at the Royal College, then as a political cartoonist on the Ceylon
Times and
Observer for fifteen years before coming to Australia in 1961. He drew illustrations for the Victorian Education Department for three years, then became a political cartoonist on the
Australian, including cartoons about Aboriginal rights in 1965 (ill. King, 176-8, 186, 214 et al.); original Collette cartoon c.1966 is in ML
PXD 764. In 1970 he won the Walkley Award for best cartoonist of the year.
He joined the Melbourne Herald in 1971, e.g. 'Working Wives’ 15 July 1974 (included by Christine Dixon, original NLA?). His cartoons also appeared in the New York Times, the Saturday Evening Times and the Sydney Bulletin, e.g. painter standing on canvas spilling paint to viewer inspecting photo of Spoerri-type painting on wall: “Yes, it’s not bad, considering that at that time they were still using brushes” 1964 (ill. Rolfe, 307). Honorary member of the Cartoonists’ Society of America. His son is now general manager of Opera Australia.
- Writers:
- Kerr, Joan
- Date written:
- 1996
- Last updated:
- 2007
