Pesky Boy Inspires

Beano character Dennis the Menace was based on a New Zealand boy called Robert Fair who was a childhood friend of the cartoon character’s creator David Law, and a frequent visitor to the Law family home. Fair, now 62, emigrated nearly 40 years ago after joining the merchant navy, and has only just found out that his juvenile pranks – which included frightening pals by jumping out and throwing spiders and worms at them – formed the basis of one of the most popular strips in comic book history. The secret has been revealed by Law’s daughter Rosemary Moffat, who was herself the inspiration for Beryl the Peril. “Robert was a little brat when he was a boy and my father based Dennis’s energy, movement and sense of mischief on him when he was doing his drawings,” she told the Sunday Times. The grandfather-of-six said that it was a “great honour” to discover the news. “I remember reading Dennis the Menace as a boy and all these years I have never known that was me, that was my character. I think it’s fantastic,” Fair said. Law created Dennis in 1951.