Hugh Brian White was born in Luton on 4 April 1902. Brian White became an artist and film animator, working with Sid Griffiths, the Welsh animator who produced Jerry the Troublesome Tyke for Pathe from 1925 to 1927. In 1929 the two men formed the company Griffiths and White, which worked from an office in the Charing Cross Road, London, and initially produced animated advertisements for the Superads agency. In 1930 Carl Giles joined Superads, where he also became an animator.
White also worked as a newspaper cartoonist, creating the popular strip “The Nipper” which ran in the Daily Mail from 1933 to 1947. The model for the toddler featured in the strip was White’s son John, and his younger daughter Susan also appeared. White also created the strip ‘Double Trouble’ for the London Evening Standard.
In 1952 White returned to animation, working for a year on Hallas and Batchelor’s feature-length cartoon Animal Farm, alongside his old associate Sid Griffiths.
Brian White died in Sussex in 1984.
14 catalogued originals [WHI0001 – 0014]
37 uncatalogued original ‘Double Trouble’ strips [WHI0015 – 51]
50 uncatalogued Little Nipper originals [WHI0052 – 0101]
strip cuttings ‘Double Trouble’ 1960 – 74
Box for board game (‘Nipper’s Ups and Downs’) feat. illustrations by Brian White