My friend Terence Greer, who has died aged 90, was an illustrator most associated with the Radio Times – particularly during its golden age in the 1950s and early 60s – but also with magazines such as the Listener, the Economist and New Society. Penguin also used him to draw a series of covers over the years for books by authors including Iris Murdoch, Muriel Spark and Angus Wilson.
Terence was born in Surbiton in Surrey to Lester Greer, who worked in a bank, and his wife, Olive (nee King), who was a milliner. After school in Twickenham he did national service in the RAF and from 1949 onwards studied at Twickenham School of Art, followed by St Martin’s School of Art and then the Royal Academy of Arts, after which his portfolio was impressive enough to persuade the prestigious Saxon Artists agency to represent him.
Based in London, Terence claimed to be making more money for the agency than any of its other artists. His distinctive use of pen and ink with a bold black line was considered ideal for the Penguin format of that era, and he produced covers for books such as The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks, The Sandcastle by Murdoch and The Bachelors by Spark.
By the mid-1960s, however, Penguin had begun to favour photography for its covers and a number of magazines had also started to turn away from their previous reliance on illustrations. As Terence’s work began to dwindle, he took to painting pastiches for BBC TV sets, along with fake “old” pub signs that were sold in the antique shops of Chelsea.
By the late 60s he had largely switched to a new artistic endeavour – playwriting for small London theatres. His first play, Ripper!, was staged in 1973 at the Half Moon theatre in its first home, a former Whitechapel synagogue. Others followed at the Bush theatre in Shepherd’s Bush (Nobody Knew They Were There, 1975), the Mountview theatre in Crouch End (The Lay Figure, 1975) and the Young Vic (Ballroom, 1978).
Otherwise he continued to make ends meet by selling his artwork, through some photography, and working as a courier for a travel company. In 1993, having met and married his third wife, Sneja Gunew, he moved with her to Canada when she was appointed to a professorship at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and they lived in Vancouver, where he died. With Sneja teaching and Terence painting, they enjoyed each other’s company for almost 40 years. He was a kind and funny man.
Terence’s first marriage had been to Naomi Glynne, with whom he had two daughters, Lisa and Annabelle, and his second was to Gisela Betzle, with whom he had another daughter, Daisy. Both marriages ended in divorce.
He is survived by Sneja, his three children and five grandchildren.
