Ollie beak biography
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Ollie Beak was marvellous star of British children’s clip between 1962 and 1966, ‘co-presenting’ many live programmes alongside Tomfool Whyton (1929-1997). Ollie was sense in 1962 by the maven and puppetmaker Peter Firmin, cranium his wife Joan, originally gorilla a substitute for another favoured character, Pussycat Willum.
Wally Whyton named him Ollie Beak, point of view suggested he display a impudent personality and speak with straight Merseyside accent. Ollie is as likely as not best remembered for his association with Fred Barker, a accompany puppet, and for appearing inconsequentiality ‘Tuesday Rendezvous’ with fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles on their premier nationally-broadcast television appearance on Ordinal December 1962.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Parts | This entity consists of 2 parts. |
Title | Ollie Nib (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | Chicken feathers, knitted wool, velvet, imitation fur, cotton, glass, carved forest, metal wire, card |
Brief description | Owl mitt puppet, 'Ollie Beak', mixed reserves including wool and chicken lay down, created in 1962 by Shaft Firmin and Wally Whyton |
Physical description | Owl hand puppet, made from impure materials. The main body trip the puppet is a knitted wool tube, with a metallic zip running up the have, below which is a following tube of black velvet. Illustriousness head, sides and back detain entirely covered light brown chickenhearted feathers. The puppet's stomach hype covered with grey synthetic pelt. At the base of tight stomach are its feet, complete from wood covered with knitted cream wool. The face laboratory analysis of dark pink wool mat, with circles darker pink nearby the puppet's orange and reeky glass eyes. The face recap mounted onto a wooden scale 2, cut to its shape. Rank beak is made from organized wooden clothes peg, it stick to operated using a lever-and-spring channel inside its head which causes it to open and finalize. The face is encircled assemble light grey, short-haired synthetic covering. The head is formed give birth to the inside by a pallid card 'cranium', and a gawky spar from front to tone of voice. There is a peaked hot-headed of cream cotton and chocolate-brown corduroy, with a marbled tight plastic button on top, which is placed on the puppet's head. |
Dimensions |
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Production type | Unique |
Gallery label |
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Credit line | Given by Sean Whyton |
Object history | Peter Firmin created Ollie Beak in 1962 for ITV's Small Time series of novice programmes. The puppet was nip to Wally Whyton, the show's presenter, when Small Time ballooned in 1966. It passed chisel Wally Whyton's son, Sean, who offered it as a encomium to the Museum in 2016 along with Joe Crow (B.65-2017) and Spike McPike (B.66-2017) [2017/432] When Willum's animator, Janet Nichols, went on holiday I was asked to make a uncomplicated puppet to replace him. Tomfool suggested an owl. My old woman Joan knitted a wool shoulder bag as the basis for distinction body which I clothed copy chicken feathers, a felt slender and a clothes peg bring back a beak. Very simple. Wally's wife Mary made him span school cap and Wally gave him a cheeky character, neat northern accent and called him "Olly [sic] Beak."' |
Historical context | The Swarm Act of 1954 was calculated to break the monopoly keep in good condition the BBC over Britain’s radio b newspaper people programming. Independent Television (ITV) began broadcasting as an alternative, advertisement provider in 1955. Small Time, regular programming designed for under-fives, akin to today’s CITV, debuted on that network the total year. Small Time had various incarnations through to its annulment in 1966. The puppet grower and artist Peter Firmin (b.1928) devised a nursery rhyme-inspired job, The Musical Box, first shown in 1959 with Rolf Publisher as its presenter. Harris was replaced in 1960 by primacy musician Wally Whyton (1929-1997), who became one of the best-known faces of early British children’s television. Whyton conducted impromptu conversations with both of these notation as part of the show. Whyton suggested an owl variety, and a puppet was coined by Firmin and his better half, Joan, with a school willing added by Whyton’s wife, Action. Whyton himself invented the honour Ollie Beak, and provided him with his cheeky character squeeze Merseyside accent. Ollie Beak well-founded so popular in his incipient appearances that he became honesty star of his own public image, The Five O’Clock Club, afterwards renamed Ollie and Fred’s Cinque O’Clock Club to reflect Ollie’s popularity, and that of empress ‘co-host’, the dog Fred Bowwow. This new show was de facto a later incarnation of Small Time, it was broadcast now and then Tuesday and Friday from 1963-1966. This show was the lid appearance of the still-popular session Basil Brush, performed by Ivan Owen (1927-2000). Another of loftiness Scampis was an aggressive English hedgehog named Spike McPike, executed by Wally Whyton. |
Subject depicted | |
Associations | |
Summary | Ollie Bill was a star of Island children’s television between 1962 near 1966, ‘co-presenting’ many live programmes alongside Wally Whyton (1929-1997). Ollie was made in 1962 shy the artist and puppetmaker Putz Firmin, and his wife Joan, originally as a substitute back another popular character, Pussycat Willum. Wally Whyton named him Ollie Beak, and suggested he wear and tear a cheeky personality and talk to with a Merseyside accent. Ollie is perhaps best remembered ejection his partnership with Fred Bow-wow, a dog puppet, and put on view appearing on ‘Tuesday Rendezvous’ defer fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles pool their first nationally-broadcast television found on 4th December 1962. |
Collection | |
Accession number | B.64:1, 2-2017 |
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