Tony Hart
- This article is about the English artist. For the American theatrical author, see Tony Hart.
Anthony Hart | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 15, 1925 |
| Occupation | Artist |
Anthony "Tony" Hart (born 15 October 1925 in Maidstone, Kent) is an English artist and a former television presenter.
Biography
He was born in Maidstone, Kent, and began his TV career in 1952 as resident artist on the BBC children's show Saturday Special. Subsequent TV shows included Titch and Quackers, Playbox, Vision On, Take Hart, Hart Beat and Smart Hart. From the 1970s, he often appeared alongside the animated Plasticine stop-motion character Morph.
He studied art at Maidstone College of Art, which later became Kent Institute of Art & Design (and is now the Maidstone campus of the University for the Creative Arts). In World War II, he served as an officer in the 1st Gurkha rifles.
Career highlights
As well as demonstrating small-scale projects (the type that viewers might be able to do), Hart also created large-scale artworks on the TV studio floor, and even used beaches and other open spaces as 'canvases' (to be viewed from a camera-crane).
A regular feature of Hart's TV shows was 'The Gallery', which displayed artworks sent in by young viewers. One of the pieces of easy-listening vibraphone music accompanying this feature—"Leftbank 2", composed by Wayne Hill and performed by the Lance Gambit Trio[1]—has passed into British TV theme lore.
Hart also created the original design for the Blue Peter badge. He originally asked for his fee to be paid as a royalty of 1d (one pre-decimalisation penny) for each badge made, but was offered a flat fee of £100 (equivalent to around £1,600 at 2006 rates). The badges are famous throughout the UK and have been coveted by three successive generations of Blue Peter viewers.
Hart has received two BAFTA awards. His first came in 1978, and he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.
Hart retired from regular TV work in 2002, but still makes occasional guest appearances on other shows. He also makes personal appearances at events.
On 28 December, 2006, it was announced during It Started with Swap Shop that he was currently suffering from ill health. In an interview with The Times of 30 September 2008, he revealed that two strokes have robbed him of the his use of his hands and left him unable to draw. He described this as "the greatest cross I have to bear".[2]
References
- ^ http://www.tonyhart.co.uk/gallery%20music.htm; contains link to an online copy of the music
- ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4847425.ece
External links
- Official site
- Interview with Tony Hart
- Tony Hart article about Morph
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.