Mary Tourtel was created in 1920, at a time when the "Express" was in competition with "The Daily Mail" and its then popular comic strip "Teddy Tail", as well as the strip "Pip, Squeak and Wilfred" in "The Daily Mirror". The then news editor of the "Express", Herbert Tourtel, was approached with the task of producing a new comic strip to rival those of the "Mail" and "Mirror" and immediately thought of his wife Mary, already an established author and artist. Rupert Bear was the result and was first published as a nameless character in a strip titled "Little Lost Bear" on
Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen (born 1954) is an English writer, journalist and critic. Born in London, Christiansen is the grandson of Arthur Christiansen (editor of the "Daily Express") and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (editor of the "Sunday" and" Daily Mirror"). He was educated at Millfield and King's College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English. As a Fulbright scholar, he also attended Columbia University from 1977 to 1978. He has written a number of books, including a biography of Victorian poet Arthur Hugh Clough, and won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1988 for "Romantic Affinities". His