Dorothy Wall
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Dorothy Wall was an Australian author and illustrator who created Blinky Bill.[1]
Early life
Wall was born on January 12, 1894, in Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand, to a London-born designer and draughtsman father and an English mother of French heritage. She showed early artistic talent, earning a scholarship to Canterbury College's School of Art at age 12, and moved to Sydney in 1914, where she began producing freelance drawings for newspaper catalogues and advertisements. Her first published illustrations appeared in The Lone Hand magazine around 1921.[1]
Blinky Bill
Blinky Bill first appeared in a book bearing his name in 1933, followed by four further adventures. The 1939 omnibus The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill, published by Angus & Robertson, proved enormously successful and remains a bestseller in Australia.[1]
Later life
Despite Blinky Bill's success, Wall struggled financially throughout her career. She spent several years in New Zealand between 1938 and 1941 before returning to Australia, and died on January 21, 1942, at age 48, from pneumonia complicated by pleurisy. The Australian Cartoonists Association inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 2020.[1]