William Ellis Green
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William Ellis Green, who signs his cartoons WEG, has drawn the Australian Football League premiers posters since 1954.
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[edit] Early Life
Born in 1923 Weg grew up in Essendon two doors down from the great Dick Reynolds who would go on to win the Brownlow Medal 3 times in 1934, 37, and 38. Torn between becoming an architect or a cartoonist after leaving Essendon High School, he studied architecture because his mother warned: "You'll starve if you're a cartoonist."
[edit] World War II
WEG went to New Guinea with the 15th Brigade after lying about his health (he could not walk for a year in his childhood because of osteomyelitis). It was there he scrounged some art materials to draw a cartoon, later published in an army newspaper.
[edit] Post World War II
After a post-war painting course, he joined The Herald at a serendipitous time in 1946. Political cartoonist Sammy Wells went on holiday for six weeks and WEG filled in. He continued to be the Heralds political cartoonist until he retired from that job 40 year later in 1986.
[edit] Premiership Posters
1954 was the year Weg started drawing premiership posters of the winning teams of the AFL grand final for the Weekend Herald. Originally the poster were only given out to the newsagents that sold the sporting globe, but by 1966 Weg's posters had become that popular that the Herald started producing more of them and began selling them after the game. Today the premiership posters are as popular as ever often selling around 100,000 copies each year. Although the series started in 1954, WEG has since produced posters for all the Grand Finals back to 1897 to satisfy collectors.
[edit] Good Friday Appeal
Proceeds from all Weg posters are given to the royal children’s hospital particularly for the Good Friday Appeal and to date have helped raised over $2 million dollars.
[edit] Medal of the Order of Australia
In 2001 Weg received the medal of the order of Australia for his services to art as a cartoonist and illustrator, and to the community, particularly through the Good Friday Appeal of the Royal Children's Hospital.
[edit] Burglar caught by cartoon
On 14 January 2005, the 82 year old Green confronted a burglar running through his back yard in Heathmont, Victoria. After confronting the man, WEG called the police then proceeded to take pens to paper and produce a caricature. His art was immediately recognisable to the local police. The offender was soon apprehended at local shops, and the cartoon clearly showed the man.[1]
[edit] External links
- Official Weg Site
- Cartoons by WEG - held and digitised by the National Library of Australia
[edit] Notes
- ^ Inkspot #48, page 11
[edit] References
- Pneumonia can wait for the Grand Final - WEG (Retrieved March 7, 2008)
