Molly Blake
{{Short description|British illustrator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Molly Blake
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birthname = Molly Suzanne McClenaghan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|8|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2011|6|9|1917|8|14|df=y}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Illustrator, television presenter, author
| partner =
| children = Susie Blake
| parents = Henry McClenaghan
Annette Mills
| relatives = Sir John Mills (uncle)
| website =
| alma_mater =
}}
Molly Suzanne Blake ({{nee}} McClenaghan;[https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-65429 ODNB] 14 August 1917 – 9 June 2011)[https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetimes-uk/obituary.aspx?n=molly-suzanne-blake&pid=151960920 "Molly Suzanne Blake", funeral notice copied from The Times at Legacy.com]. Retrieved 10 January 2021 was a British illustrator, BBC children's television presenter and children's author.
Career
Blake studied at the Central School of Art and Design in London.{{cite magazine |title=Eight Young Artists in Search of an Editor |magazine=The Strand Magazine |date=July 1947 |page=76 |volume=113 |issue=679 |last1=Anon.}}
Her parents were the actress, dancer and broadcaster Annette Mills,{{cite web |title=Molly Blake |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp72464/molly-blake |publisher=National Portrait Gallery |accessdate=2020-01-23 }} best remembered for being the partner of the puppet "Muffin", in the successful BBC Television children's series Muffin the Mule between 1946 and 1955, and her first husband, Henry McClenaghan.{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-65429|isbn = 978-0-19-861412-8|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/65429|year = 2004|last1 = Baker|first1 = Anne Pimlott|title = Mills, Annette [real name Edith Mabel Mills] (1894–1955), entertainer}} Molly produced many of the illustrations in the popular series of children's books of Muffin the Mule stories. One of her drawings of Muffin was used in Radio Times in 1951.{{cite journal |title=For the Children: Muffin the Mule |journal=Radio Times |date=8 June 1951 |issue=1439 |page=41}}
Mills also appeared on television with the glove puppet "Prudence Kitten".{{cite web |title=Children's TV show puppet auctioned |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-25140676 |website=BBC News |accessdate=23 January 2020 |date=28 November 2013}} After Mills' death in January 1955, Blake took over the role.{{cite magazine |title=The Return of Prudence Kitten |magazine=Radio Times |issue=1654 |page=21 |date=22 July 1955 |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/d33fe2fc74fc41bb9b8e0b4863ced436?page=21}} Her earliest such appearance was on 27 July 1955.{{cite magazine |title=Children's Television |magazine=Radio Times |date=22 July 1955 |issue=1654 |page=32 |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbctv/1955-07-27#at-17.00}} She also wrote Prudence Kitten books, but these were illustrated by others.
A 1947 portrait photograph of Blake, by John Gay, is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. She was photographed by Gay for, and featured in, an article in The Strand Magazine, "Eight Young Artists in Search of an Editor",{{cite web |title=Checklist of John Gay photographs |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/about/photographs-collection/checklist-of-john-gay-photographs |publisher=National Portrait Gallery |accessdate=24 December 2019}} in which she was said to be married, and living in Marylebone. Her husband was David H. Blake.
Family
Her uncle, her mother's younger brother, was the actor John Mills, meaning she was a cousin to his daughters, Juliet Mills and Hayley Mills. Blake illustrated Far Morning by Mary Hayley Bell, John Mills' second wife.
Blake's daughter is the actor Susie Blake.{{cite web |title=Actress Susie Blake, accompanied by her mother Molly, arrive at... |date=11 August 2017 |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/actress-susie-blake-accompanied-by-her-mother-molly-arrive-news-photo/829993704 |publisher=Getty Images |accessdate=23 January 2020 }}
Publications
= Books by Blake =
- {{Cite book |first1=Molly |last1=Blake |author-mask1=0 |title=Prudence and Primrose |others=Illustrated by Kathleen Dance |publisher=Publicity Products |year=1956 }}
- {{Cite book |first1=Molly |last1=Blake |author-mask1=0 |title=Prudence and Celia |others=Illustrated by Sheila Findlay |publisher=Publicity Products |year=1957 }}
- {{Cite book |first1=Molly |last1=Blake |author-mask1=0 |title=Prudence Kitten's ABC |others=Illustrated by Sheila Findlay |publisher=Publicity Products |year=1957 }}
= Books illustrated by Blake =
- {{Cite book |title=Muffin the Mule |first1=Annette |last1=Mills |publisher=University of London Press |year=1949 }}
- {{Cite book |title=More About Muffin |first1=Annette |last1=Mills |publisher=University of London Press |year=1950 }}
- {{Cite book |title=Muffin and the Magic Hat |first1=Annette |last1=Mills |publisher=University of London Press |year=1951 }}
- {{Cite book |title=Here Comes Muffin |first1=Annette |last1=Mills |publisher=University of London Press |year=1952 }}
- {{Cite book |title=Jennifer and the Flower Fairies |first1=Annette |last1=Mills |publisher=News of the World |year=1952 }}
- {{Cite book |title=Muffin at the Seaside |first1=Annette |last1=Mills |publisher=University of London Press |year=1953 }}
- {{Cite book |title=Muffin's Splendid Adventure |first1=Annette |last1=Mills |publisher=University of London Press |year=1954 }}
- {{Cite book |title=Far Morning |first1=Mary |last1=Hayley Bell |publisher=Heinemann |year=1962 }}
- {{Cite book |title=In Rosember |first1=Margaret |last1=Arnold |publisher=Heinemann |year=1962 }}
- {{Cite book |title=Rescue a Recipe |editor-first1=Joan |editor-last1=Hartley |publisher=WRVS Magazine |year=1975 }}
= Contributions to other books =
- My Annette Mills Gift Book. Stories written by Annette Mills. Published by London: The Heirloom Library. [n.d. c. 1955]. Molly Blake illustrates the 5 Muffin the Mule stories in this collection.
References
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Category:20th-century British artists
Category:British women children's book illustrators
Category:British children's television presenters
Category:British children's writers
Category:British women children's writers