Michael John Heath is a British strip cartoonist and illustrator. He has been cartoon editor of The Spectator since 1991. Biography Heath was born on 13 October 1935, in Bloomsbury, London. His father, George Heath, was also a cartoonist of boy's adventure comics, a job he detested. Heath's relationship with both his parents was distant and neither birthdays nor Christmas were celebrated. During the war Heath was evacuated to his grandmother's house in Torcross, in Devon. In 1947 the family moved to Brighton. While studying at art college, which he loathed, Heath sold his first cartoons to Melody Maker for two guineas. He later got work illustrating album covers for Decca Records and drew a strip called "Nelly Know-all" for the Women's Sunday Mirror. By the 1960s he was part of the Soho social crowd that included Jeffrey Bernard, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon. His work has appeared in numerous British publications including Punch, Lilliput, the Evening Standard, The Evening News, The Guardian, The Spectator, The Independent, The Sunday Times, The Mail on Sunday, and Private Eye; all his work is signed simply as "HEATH". He has been cartoon editor of The Spectator since 1991, and the cartoons which are published have not always adhered to the magazine's conservative politics. Heath's own political cartoons have also appeared in The Independent. In August 2016 he was the guest for the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. His favourite choice was "Criss Cross" by Thelonious Monk. His other choices were "Dance of the Infidels" by Bud Powell, "Teddy Bears' Picnic" by Henry Hall & His Orchestra, "Max In An Air Raid (I Never Slept A Wink All Night)" by Max Miller, "Take a Step" by Jack Buchanan, "All the Things You Are" by The Quintet, "Funny Face" by Fred and Adele Astaire, with Julian Jones & His Orchestra and "Lover" by Charlie Parker. His book choice was The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith and his luxury item was an artist's painting set. Heath has been married three times, the first time for 32 years, the second time for 18 years. He has four daughters in total, two from each of his first two marriages. He kept a black and tan Dachshund, Charlie, for many years until Charlie's death in August 2019. Michael now lives with his third wife, Hilary (née Penn), in Bloomsbury. Cartoon series Great