John Berry (illustrator)

John Leslie Berry (9 June 1920 – 10 December 2009) was a British illustrator. He came up with the idea for the iconic Esso tiger adverts.

He was born in Hammersmith. In 1934 he went to Hammersmith College of Art.

He served as an official war artist, attached to the Eighth Army

Between 1961 and 1978 he illustrated thirty five Ladybird books, working alongside Frank Hampson, Charles Tunnicliffe and Harry Wingfield. He worked on their Key Words Reading Scheme.

In 1951 he designed the tiger for Esso, that put a tiger in your tank. He was paid £25 for the slogan that he invented.

He painted portraits of the Queen, and the Duke of Edinburgh.

He married June East in 1951. They had three sons and two daughters. She died in 1986. He remarried in 1989 to Jessie Showell.