Celebrated cartoonist and caricaturist Malky McCormick whose work graced national and local newspapers for five decades has died.
Glasgow-born Malky, 76, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia two years ago, had been living in a care home in Ayrshire since losing his devoted wife Ann to cancer.
It was his close friendship with Billy Connolly that propelled Malky to prominence in the 70s in our sister title The Sunday Mail.
In 1973 the banjo-playing pals created a comic strip The Big Yin which documented the funny side of Scottish life.
It not only launched Malky’s artistic career but, in turn, gave Sir Billy the nickname that has stuck to this day.
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Malky once recounted: “I met Billy through my band, The Vindscreen Vipers, and we became friends.
“We ended up doing a collection of cartoons called The Big Yin, which I’m proud of.”
And he revealed: “I was trying to think of a name for the strip we were working on together.
“At the time, Billy was doing a routine called The Crucifixion, based on the idea that The Last Supper took place in the Glasgow Gallowgate, not Galilee.
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“In the piece, Billy referred to Jesus as The Big Yin and I was listening to that one day and I thought, ‘Aye, that’s a good name.’
“So, in the cartoon, Billy became The Big Yin and I became his sidekick, Wee Man.”
Other work he was particularly proud of is a Rolling Stones drawing the band autographed in 1966, a cartoon for the Celtic Opus book and a sketch of Kilmarnock’s Scottish Cup team of 1997.
When his beloved Killie won the trophy beating Falkirk 1-0 at Ibrox, Malky wore a blue-and-white striped suit.
Alex Milligan, former chief reporter of the Kilmarnock Standard, revealed how it was fashioned out of a pub toilet towel
“He couldn’t source the right colour until he went for a pee in his local, the Fenwick Hotel.
“And there it was slap bang in front of him, the perfect blue and white material on the hotel’s roller towel.
“He did a deal with the hotel owner and it was soon on it’s way to Peggy McMaster, a talented local dressmaker.”
Malky was a regular at Rugby Park and did a cartoon in the match programme.
A father-of-three Malky settled in the Ayrshire village of Waterside, near Kilmarnock, and did most of his work from home.
He left the commercial art world in 1965 and illustrated comics and magazines for DC Thomson drawing Biffo the Bear for The Beano.
He was a graphic artist and designer with Scottish Television and
contributed to a host of newspapers including the Daily Record, Daily Express, The Sun, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and New Statesman.
For 10 years he was resident cartoonist on ITV’s networked quiz show, Win, Lose or Draw. He also produced comic postcards.
He made the Scottish Football Museum where his interpretations of all Scotland’s football managers from the 70s were exhibited.
Malky is survived by his daughter, Jane, and sons Sean and Dominic.
