Full Credit to Larry

 

I thought it was time to blog about the wonderful cartoonist Larry. Larry, or Terence Parkes to give him his Sunday name, was responsible for the colourful title sequences of several prime Carry On films in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Larry's style was incredibly minimalist - just a few squiggles and outlines to suggest a whole lot more. His style suited the Carry On films perfectly and the films his credits introduced benefited from his excellent work. They often captured scenes from the films themselves and did so to perfection. Who can forget the wonderful imaginings of all the beauty contestants at the beginning of Carry On Girls or the adventures under canvas depicted as the credits rolled for Carry On Camping?

 

Larry worked on the title sequences for four classic Carry Ons - first of all Carry On Doctor in 1967, then both films produced in 1968 - Up The Khyber and Camping. After a gap, Larry returned to grace one final Carry On - Girls in 1973. I always remembered these saucy drawings from my childhood growing up with these wonderful films and I think Larry and the Carry Ons were a match made in heaven. It's such a shame he didn't work on more of the series.

So what of the man himself? Terence Parkes was born in Birmingham in November 1927. Throughout his life he retained his strong Brummie accent. He became hugely successful, best known for his cartoons in publications such as Punch and Private Eye. Parkes also published several books and later in life, even designed covers for W.H. Smith own brand stationery!

 

There was seemingly no end to this man's talents! Sadly Terence Parkes passed away in 2003. If you would like to read more about his life and career, there is a wonderful obituary available on The Guardian website which you can view here . Birmingham City University also have a collection of his work available to view - further details can be found here

 

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