John Ryan (cartoonist)
John Gerald Christopher Ryan (4 March 1921 – 22 July 2009) was a British animator and cartoonist. He was best known for his character Captain Pugwash. Biography
Ryan was born in Edinburgh, the son of diplomat Sir Andrew Ryan. As a young child he had a fascination with pirates, every night looking out at his window wishing for some to appear. After serving as an officer in Burma during the Second World War, Ryan studied at the Regent Street Polytechnic, where he met his future wife Priscilla. After meeting Marcus Morris at his wedding, Ryan first created Captain Pugwash as a comic strip for The Eagle in 1950, although the strip was dropped after three months as it was felt to be aimed at younger readers than the target audience. Unperturbed, Ryan created Harris Tweed, Special Agent for Eagle, which ran until 1962. However, in 1957, after seven years, his first Pugwash picture book was published, which then led to a long-running The Radio Times strip and a television series made using cutout animation. He also created Lettice Leefe for Girl magazine, which ran from 1951 to 1965, crossing over with Harris Tweed, and through his animation studio, John Ryan Studios, he created Mary Mungo & Midge in 1969, which featured his daughter Isabel providing the voice of the titular character, and The Adventures of Sir Prancelot in 1972. In 1981, Ryan presented The Ark Stories for Yorkshire Television, the series being produced by Anne Wood. Each episode saw Ryan present and illustrate a story about Noah's Ark, either prior to or during the Great Flood, each starring a crocodile named Crockle. Ryan, a Catholic (his brother was the theologican Columba Ryan), provided illustrations and cartoons for Catholic newspapers, including the Catholic Herald, and several collections of these cartoons were published as books, and featured the recurring character of Cardinal Grotti. Towards the end of his life, he was resident in Rye. Ryan died in hospital in Rye, East Sussex. He is survived by his wife Priscilla and his three children. Isabel now runs his archive, organising exhibitions and talks. Family
His brother was Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher Columba Ryan. His father was diplomat Andrew Ryan. References

External links
 Jedis Children's TV Captain Pugwash page, contains a 1974 interview with Ryan on the animation of Captain Pugwash

1921 births
2009 deaths
20th-century British artists
20th-century British male writers
20th-century British writers
Alumni of the University of Westminster
Artists from Edinburgh
British animated film directors
British animators
British Army personnel of World War II
British cartoonists
British children's writers
British comic strip cartoonists
British comics artists
Scottish Roman Catholics
British television directors
People educated at Ampleforth College
Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers
Writers from Edinburgh
Writers who illustrated their own writing