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From my local paper:
Fleeting tribute to early TV superstar
DEREK JAMES
09 December 2009
The first star of television: Richard Hearne meets the nurses at the Jenny Lind Hospital in Norwich in the 1960s.
At last! A statue honouring the world's first TV superstar is going up in his home city of Norwich…just a shame it won't be around for long.
For years, while some weird and wacky street furniture has appeared, I have been calling for a statue paying tribute to the one and only Mr Pastry - a man worth remembering.
He was the bumbling old boy with the walrus moustache and bowler hat with millions of young fans created by the talented Richard Hearne who was born in what was then Lady Lane in 1908.
Today the old lane has long gone and The Forum stands in the place so it is fitting that the ice statue of Mr Pastry will be put up near to where he was born.
The image of dear old Mr P, the first global television star, will be part of this year's shimmering Ice Sculpture Trail looking at life in Norwich.
And he will be joined by guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, who played at the old Orford Cellar, along with the likes of Rod Stewart, David Bowie and Eric Clapton back in the swinging 60s.
This ice trail is a glorious way to celebrate the city and an opportunity for a family outing with a difference.
City visitor: The late, great Jimi Hendrix played the Orford Cellar, the trendy hot spot of Norwich in the 1960s.
This is the 5th annual trail and is being supported by the Geoffrey Watling Charity, formed by the much-loved former president of Norwich City Football Club to help local charities, while Norwich Heritage Economic and regeneration Trust (HEART) worked on developing the theme.
You can set out on the ice trail on Sunday December 20. Make your way to Castle Gardens and watch the sculptures being created at the Whiffler Theatre by Hamilton Ice Sculptors and students from Norwich University College of Arts.
The Ice Sculpture Trail was developed as part of a package of festive events in Norwich and last year it attracted around 30,000 people.
As co-ordinator Clare Hubery says: “The trail has become a much-loved part of the Christmas calendar and this year's theme reflects the many different ways in which people have enjoyed our city.”
Along the trail you will find:
Balloom dancing - Ber Street (sponsored by John Lewis).
Jim Hendrix - Timberhill.
Norfolk Dialect and Its Friends: Ten Years of FOND Memories recalled by Robin Limmer.
The Footballer - Brigg Street.
Mr Pastry - The Forum.
Beer barrel - City Hall.
The Fencer - Gentleman's Walk.
Samson & Hercules - Castle Street.
The Skateboarder - Castle Gardens.
Living carving - Whiffler Theatre.
Icy Facts:
The sculptures are made from around 10 tonnes of ice
That's the equivalent of about 10,000 litres of water.
Each one is sculpted with Japanese chisels made in the Samurai tradition
They are transported from London at -25C.
They are hard-carved by a team of five sculptors over three months.
To find out more visit www.norwich.gov.uk
Mr Pastry
Richard Hearne was born just over a century and made his acting debut on the stage at Norwich Theatre Royal when just a few weeks old.
He travelled the world with his family learning how to fall over appearing in circuses and touring shows.
Mr Pastry was born during a 1936 London show called Big Boy with Fred Emney and Jon Pertwee.
He became the first television star, the first to have his own series with his own theme tune Pop Goes the Weasel. He was a huge hit in America making regular appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and was a household name across Europe.
Richard Hearne was also a great charity worker and was awarded the OBE in 1970. He retired from TV early saying it had become too smutty.
Although he lived in Kent he always had a soft spot for his beloved Norwich.
He died 30 years ago. A man we should remember so how about a permanent statue of Mr Pastry?
________
These Ice Trails are very good, I have been to see several of them now, it's better if the weather is quite cold as some I have visited have already melted quite a lot if it's mild or raining.
Lizx
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Liz
I have Mr Pastry in my favs. on youtube where he is doing the Lancers. A happy memory.
LW
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Oh Liz, I remember him well.
Sitting on the settee with my children in stitches.
Deanna X
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I remember going to watch Mr Pastry playing cricket - in Aylsham I think - when I was a little girl. There's a blast from the past!
Frances
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Frances, you are right, that is a blast from the past! Can't recall if I ever saw him, I am sure I must somewhere - my cousin who was 19 yrs older than me used to take me to the theatre and cinema.
Lizx
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There is a site called "Find a Grave" I think which tells you where he is buried,oddly enough!
Didn't his daughter marry one of the Springfields?
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Look at this, he was almost a Dr Who!!!!
Richard Lewis Hearne, OBE (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979)[1][2] was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He was famous for his stage and television character Mr Pastry
Career
Hearne was born in Norwich, Norfolk. He was the first performer to be known as a television star and also the first to have his own programme, which had the theme tune Pop goes the weasel; this was a black and white series of 25-minute episodes. In it, he played "Mr Pastry", an old man with a walrus moustache in a black suit or raincoat, and wearing his trademark bowler hat. Each week the bumbling old man would have adventures, partly slapstick, partly comic dance, with two young friends.
The character of Mr Pastry came out of a 1936 stage show called 'Big Boy' in which he appeared with Fred Emney. Jon Pertwee starred in a number of roles in the show. A Mr Pastry film was made but had him coming out of prison and was totally different from the TV series, showing him as a pathetic figure instead of as a bumbling comic. Richard Hearne worked on and off for the BBC for thirty years.
His act first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1954, and he appeared on the show frequently.
He was interviewed for the starring role of the BBC series Doctor Who after the departure of Jon Pertwee, but a disagreement over his interpretation of the role (he wanted to play the Doctor as Mr. Pastry) led to no offer being made by the producer, Barry Letts. The role was subsequently offered to Tom Baker.
Hearne raised money for hundreds of therapy pools and was awarded the OBE in 1970 for his charity work.
He was President of the the Lord's Taverners charity in 1963 and he died in Bearsted, Kent aged 71. He left a widow Yvonne and two children. He is buried in a churchyard in the village of St Mary's Platt, near Borough Green in Kent. He had lived in this village in the 1940s to the 1960s in a house called Platt Farm in Long Mill Lane; the house dated from the fifteenth century. Hearne ran a market garden there
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Thank you Liz for putting this on the thread - I didn't know who he was so have just been watching both him and Bill Dainty being him on You Tube - and having a giggle. We didn't have TV here in NZ till 1960 and then only on between 6pm and 10.30pm so there was not a lot of programmes shown.
However, I did meet Jon Pertwee he was in the Navy with a chap I know who lived on the North Shore here and consequently I got to meet him and he was a lot taller than I thought he would be.
cheers
Norma
xx
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Norma, glad you found it all so entertaining lol
Funny how we get an idea in our minds of the size, build etc of someone and then when you see them in the flesh they are different.
Lizx
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