William Mecham: The Shadowy Genius Behind Victorian Satire and Early Cinema The name William Mecham, more famously known as Tom Merry, remains a fascinating enigma in the annals of 19th-century British art and entertainment. More than just a cartoonist or caricaturist, Merry was a pioneer – the first celebrity to grace the silver screen, a master of visual wit who captured the political anxieties and social currents of his time with s…