Willie Rushton

**William George Rushton** (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English actor, cartoonist, comedian, journalist and satirist who co-founded the satirical magazine *Private Eye*. As a voice actor, he voiced Colonel K in *Danger Mouse*, the King in the BBC’s *Muzzy in Gondoland* and its sequel series *Muzzy Comes Back*, and several characters in *The Trap Door*. Some of his cassowary sound effects were reused for two episodes of Disney Junior’s *Bluey* with permission from his estate.

## Biography

### Early Life

Rushton was born 18 August 1937 in 3 Wilbraham Place, Chelsea, London, the only child of publisher John Atherton Rushton (1908–1958) and his Welsh wife Veronica (née James, 1910–1977). He was educated at Shrewsbury School, where he was not academically successful but met his future *Private Eye* colleagues Richard Ingrams, Paul Foot and Christopher Booker. He also contributed to the satirical magazine *The Wallopian*, (a play on the school magazine name *The Salopian*) mocking school spirit, traditions and the masters. Later, he said he recalled little of his schooldays, except that “it was Blandings country. The sort of place you go to die, not to be educated”.

After school Rushton had to perform two years of national service in the army, where he failed officer selection. He later commented, “The Army is, God bless it, one of the funniest institutions on earth and also a sort of microcosm of the world. It's split almost perfectly into our class system. Through serving in the ranks I discovered the basic wit of my fellow man – whom basically, to tell the truth, I'd never met before.” On leaving the army, he worked in a solicitor's office for a short period.

### Private Eye and the Satire Boom

Rushton remained in contact with his Shrewsbury friends, who had added John Wells to their number and were now running their own humour magazines at Oxford, *Parsons Pleasure* and *Mesopotamia*, to which Rushton made many contributions during his frequent visits. A cartoon of a giraffe in a bar saying “The high balls are on me” was not met with approval by everyone in the university administrative quarters. Rushton suggested that *Mesopotamia* could continue after they left university. During his time as a clerk he had been sending his cartoons out to *Punch* but none had been accepted. After being knocked over by a bus, he gave up his job as a clerk, determined not to waste another day.

After almost but not quite being accepted by *Tribune* (a Labour-supporting newspaper edited by Michael Foot, Paul's uncle), Rushton found a place at the *Liberal News*, which was also employing Christopher Booker as a journalist. From June 1960 until March 1961, he contributed a weekly strip, “Brimstone Belcher”, following the exploits of the titular journalist (a fore-runner of *Private Eye*'s Lunchtime O'Booze), from bizarre skulduggery in the British colonies (where the soldiers holding back the politicised rabble bear a strong resemblance to privates Rushton and Ingrams), travelogues through the US, and the hazards of by-electioneering as the independent candidate for the constituency of Gumboot North. After the strip folded, Rushton still contributed a weekly political cartoon to the *Liberal News* until mid-1962.

The Salopians finally found a financier for their magazine and the first issue of *Private Eye* was published on 25 October 1961. Rushton put it together in his bedroom in Scarsdale Villas using Letraset and cow-gumming illustrations onto cards which were taken away to be photo-lithographed. He also contributed all the illustrations and the mast-head figure of Little Gnitty (who still appears on the cover, a blended caricature of John Wells and the *Daily Express* standard-head). One critic described the original lay-out of the magazine as owing much to "Neo-Brechtian Nihilism", although Rushton thought it resembled a betting shop floor. One feature in the early issues was the “Aesop Revisited”, a full-page comic strip which let him work in a wealth of puns and background jokes. With *Private Eye* riding the satire boom, Peter Cook soon took an interest and contributed two serials recounting the bizarre adventures of Sir Basil Nardly-Stoads and the Rhandi Phurr, both of which were illustrated by Rushton, as was “Mrs Wilson's Diary”. In the early days the team also worked on two books, *Private Eye on London* and *Private Eye's Romantic England* that make heavy use of his cartooning talents. One of the first *Private Eye*-published books was Rushton's first collection of cartoons, *Willie Rushton's Dirty Weekend Book* (banned in Ireland).

Reuniting with his Salopian chums had also reawakened Rushton's taste for acting. After they had finished university, he had accompanied his friends in a well-received revue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. (Richard Burton even appeared one night in their parody of *Luther*.) In 1961, Richard Ingrams directed a production of Spike Milligan's surreal post-nuclear apocalypse farce *The Bed-Sitting Room*, in which Rushton was hailed by Kenneth Tynan as “brilliant”. But it was a cabaret at the Room at the Top, a chicken-in-a-basket nightclub at the top of a department store in Ilford, that really launched his career. Rushton recalled meeting the Kray twins in the audience one night and that fellow performer Barbara Windsor “wouldn't come out for a drink that night”. The revue also starred John Wells. Rushton's impersonation of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan caught the attention of Ned Sherrin, a young BBC producer searching for talent to appear in a forthcoming TV satire series.

*That Was the Week That Was* (aka “TW3”) ran from November 1962 until December 1963. It drew audiences of up to 13 million, making stars of its cast, particularly David Frost. Rushton became known for his impersonation of the Prime Minister, a daring novelty in those respectful days. “It's the only impersonation that people have ever actually recognised – so I'm very grateful to the old bugger ... But then I had voted for him, so he owed me something.” Rushton also appeared on the original flexi-discs of skits, squibs and invective that *Private Eye* gave away, having success with two self-penned songs: “Neasden” (“you won't be sorry that you breezed in ... where the rissoles are deep-freezed-en”) and the “Bum Song” (“if you’re feeling glum / stick a finger up your bum / and the world is a happier place”). He also wrote songs for *TW3*, many of which were revisited on later solo albums like *Now in Bottles* and *The Complete Works*.

In the autumn of 1963, a health scare led Macmillan to resign and Sir Alec Douglas-Home became Prime Minister. It was necessary that Douglas-Home resign his peerage to find a safe Parliamentary seat. The *Private Eye* team were so disgusted by the Conservative Party's machinations that they decided to stand their own protest candidate in the Kinross and Western Perthshire by-election. Since he was the most well-known member of the team, Rushton was the obvious choice to stand. Rushton gained much attention from journalists, since he stood under the slogan “Death to the Tories”. He polled only 45 votes, having advised his supporters at the last minute to vote Liberal, the Conservatives' only credible challenger. Douglas-Home won.

1. ↑ "Obituaries: William Rushton", *The Daily Telegraph* page 21, 12 December 1996