Syd Miller (cartoonist)

Syd Miller
Born	Sydney Leon Miller 24 December 1901 Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia
Died	31 December 1983 Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia
Pen name	Noel Muller
Occupation	Cartoonist, illustrator, animator
Nationality	Australian
Period	1917-1964

Syd Miller (1901-1983) was an Australian comic book writer, artist and illustrator, best known for his cartoon creation, Chesty Bond, for the Australian clothing company Bonds.

Sydney Leon Miller, was born on 24 December 1901 in Strathfield, New South Wales, the son of a newsagent. Miller attended Fort Street High School until the age of fifteen when he left to work briefly at a pharmaceutical importer and then as a trial apprentice in the process engraving department of The Bulletin. Inspired by the work of The Bulletin's artists, he took art classes at night at the Royal Art Society of New South Wales.

In 1917 Miller joined Harry Julius and was associated with his company Filmads, which produced the first animated cartoons made commercially in Australia. As a freelance artist he contributed to many periodicals, including the Bulletin, Aussie and in 1920, Smith's Weekly. Miller was employed by Smith's for the next twelve years, to draw political, sports and general cartoons, as well as to write and illustrate film and stage reviews.

In 1923 he married Susan Austin and they had two children, Robn in 1928 and Peter in 1930. Miller was a founding member of the Black and White Artists’ Club in 1924.

During the 1930s Miller continued to create newspaper comic strips, such as Curiosities, in Melbourne's The Herald and Nature Notes and Weird and Wonderful in Sydney's The Daily Telegraph. In 1938 he collaborated with Ted Maloney of the J. Walter Thompson agency to create Chesty Bond, designed with the idea of promoting the Bonds clothing company's singlets. Miller handled the advertising strip until he joined the Herald and Weekly Times in 1945 and the strip passed to another artist, Francis 'Will' Mahony.

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