John Shakespeare, whose illustrations shaped the pages of Australian journalism for nearly four decades, passed away on Monday evening after a battle with cancer. He was 63.
His loss has left a deep impression on the media landscape, especially at The Sydney Morning Herald, where he spent the bulk of his career.
Shakespeare is survived by his partner, Anna-Lisa Backlund, and their son, Lukas.
As Jordan Baker writes in The Sydney Morning Herald, while many readers knew him for the whimsy and sharpness of his illustrations, his colleagues knew him as “Shakes”, a quiet, warm presence in the newsroom who blended technical mastery with gentle wit.
For 39 years, he contributed artwork that captured both the absurd and the profound, often in the same stroke.
John Shakespeare’s self portrait in The Sydney Morning Herald
Shakespeare joined Fairfax in 1985 after starting his career at Brisbane’s Courier Mail, where a role fixing photocopiers led to a creative job in the art room.
When The Sydney Sun closed, he was moved to The Sydney Morning Herald and tasked with caricatures rather than political cartoons. It turned out to be a perfect fit. Shakespeare developed a signature style that balanced satire with a deep sense of humanity.
He remained with the Herald until 2023, when he took a voluntary redundancy.
His legacy includes thousands of illustrations: from budget spreads and political portraits to farewell caricatures of colleagues.
Shakespeare remained a perfectionist to the end, constantly refining his work and questioning his ideas.
In an interview with the Queensland Law Society‘s Proctor newsletter, he explained: “The process of creating a funny cartoon can be quite excruciating. I actually don’t enjoy that part. Once I have the idea, I can relax a bit and draw it, which I enjoy.”