Russell Taylor (cartoonist)
Russell Philip Taylor MBE (born 8 July 1960) is a British writer, journalist and composer. He is best known as half of the team (with Charles Peattie) that created the satirical comic strip Alex.[1] EducationTaylor studied at Abingdon School from 1973–1978. During his time at the school he was on the editorial board of The Abingdonian.[2] He then read Russian and Philosophy at St Anne's College, Oxford.[3] AlexAlex was created by Taylor and Charles Peattie and it first appeared in the London Daily News which ran from 24 February to 23 July 1987.[4] The cartoon then appeared in The Independent during 1987 before moving to The Daily Telegraph in 1992.[5] The cartoon strip was so popular that it was subject to a nationwide billboard campaign before it switched to The Daily Telegraph.[5] Taylor is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur football club, and as a private joke (and to avoid libel accusations) always names characters who are fired in the Alex strip after Tottenham footballers.[6][7] Alex was turned into a stage play by Peattie and Taylor and was performed at the Arts Theatre, London in October, 2007. Robert Bathurst portrayed the titular character.[8] Other worksHe also writes TV and film music with Steve Cooke. Among others, they composed the music for the documentaries The Dying Rooms in 1995 and Saving Africa's Witch Children – both of which won BAFTAs in 1996 and 2009 respectively.[9][10] He has also written books on Russia and marathon running and was appointed Member of the British Empire in the 2002 New Year Honours.[11] See alsoReferences
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