Frank Langford (1926-1996)

"The Angry Planet", Boy's World, 1963

Frank Cyril Langford was born Cyril J. Eidlestein in Stepney, London, on 2 June 1926. His mother's maiden name was Goldblatt. He married Hilda M. Langford in Hampstead, London, in 1953, and changed his name legally to Langford some time in the 1960s.

His earliest work in comics was in Roxy in the late 1950s. His highest-profile work in British comics was "The Angry Planet" (1963) in Boy's World, some pages of which are signed "Eidlestein", and the title strip in Lady Penelope (1966-69). From 1969 to 1973 he drew romance comics for DC in the US, in titles such as Secret Hearts, Young Love, Young Romance and Falling in Love. He also drew "Doctor Who" for Countdown (1971) TV Action (1973) and the Doctor Who Holiday Special (1973), "The Persuaders" (1973) for TV Action, and the daily strip Jack and Jill, written by Les Lilley, for the Herald and Sun (early '70s). He had a long-standing sideline in advertising strips, from ads for the W.R.A.C. in 1964 to Corgi Toys in 1979 to KP Outer Spacers in 1982.

He died in Enfield, Middlesex, in the first quarter of 1996.

References

• Steve Holland, Cyril Eidlestein / Frank Langford, Bear Alley, 25 January 2008
• Frank Langford at Who's Who of American Comic Books
• Jacque Nodell, Artist Spotlight - Frank Langford, Sequential Crush, 3 January 2010
• Smurfswacker, Frank Langford, Jack and Jill, Words and Pictures, 20 March 2013

Online reference

• Frank Langford on Lambiek
• Frank Langford at Tardis Data Core