Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Alexander George Gurney
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
15 Mar 1902 - 4 Dec 1955
History
Alexander George Gurney (15 Mar 1902 - 4 Dec 1955), was an Australian cartoonist born in Morice Town, Devon, UK. After his father died in 1903, his mother (who was Australian) returned with him to Hobart, Tasmania, where she remarried. After leaving Macquarie Street State School at age 13, he served a seven year electrical apprenticeship with the Hydro-Electric Commission, studying art part-time in night classes at Hobart Technical School In 1939 he created the characters for which he became famous: Bluey and Curley, which first appeared in the "Picture-News" magazine then The Sun News-Pictorial in 1940 and syndicated throughout Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The strip, about a pair of soldiers. Was appreciated for the good-humoured way it depicted the Australian "digger" "mateship" and for its realistic us use of the Australian idiom. Alex visited army camps throughout
Australia and New Guinea to ensure authenticity. While in New - Guinea he contracted malaria and was incapacitated for some II time. The strip lost some of its appeal and readership when the pair returned to 'civvy' street. For more information see http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gurney-alexander-george-alex-10380