Walter Goetz, 1911-1995

• Biography

  Attribute	Value
  Biography	Born in Cologne to a German father and French mother, Walter Goetz was sent to England in 1923 to be educated at the progressive Bedales school. He returned to Berlin in 1929 to study drawing. With the deteriorating political situation Goetz returned to England and became a British Citizen in 1934. His work appeared in many publications including Punch, Harpers, Bystander, and Night & Day, and from 1934 he had a regular strip cartoon 'Colonel Up and Mr Down' published in Daily Express for fifteen years. During World War Two he joined the propaganda section of the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office where he became head of the German leaflet department. Later, with his knowledge of French, he produced the publication Cadran which was distributed in liberated France. In 1951 he moved to Paris but continued to contribute to Punch. In France he illustrated a popular series of books 'Les Carnets du Major Thompson' written by Pierre Daninos. These books told hilarious adventures of an English Major, with a bowler hat and Saville Row suit, who lived with his French wife in France. More than a million copies were sold in France. Waxwork figures of the characters even appeared in Musee Grevin, the Paris equivalent of Madame Tussauds. Goetz also designed opera costumes, and from 1958 became an art dealer. He was a member of the Society of Industrial Artists. In 1972 he returned to live in London.
  Place of birth	Cologne, Germany
  Education	Berlin, Germany,
  Employment	Designed posters for London Transport, 1936-1939
  Role	Artist,