Ingrams, Richard Reid (1943– )

English journalist. In 1962 he founded the satirical magazine Private Eye with Peter Cook, Willie Rushton, and other new-wave satirists. He served as editor 1963–86 and produced numerous spin-off publications, including Dear Bill: the Collected Letters of Denis Thatcher (1980). A columnist for The Observer since 1988, he also became founder-editor of The Oldie in 1992.

Although a controversial figure, often disrespectful of reputations, Ingrams has also produced traditional material; his written works include You Might As Well Be Dead (1986), England: An Anthology (1989), and a biography of Malcolm Muggeridge (1995). Between 1979 and 1984 he was a television critic for the Spectator.

Ingrams was born in Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex, and educated at Shrewsbury School and University College, Oxford, where he met many of his future colleagues.