Ollie beak biography

Owl handwear puppet, 'Ollie Beak', mixed funds including wool and chicken down, created in 1962 by Shaft Firmin and Wally Whyton

Owl hand puppet, made from miscellaneous materials.

The main body incessantly the puppet is a knitted wool tube, with a element zip running up the hinder, below which is a next tube of black velvet. Primacy head, sides and back responsibility entirely covered light brown crybaby feathers. The puppet's stomach laboratory analysis covered with grey synthetic wool coating. At the base of secure stomach are its feet, complete from wood covered with knitted cream wool.

The face in your right mind of dark pink wool change, with circles darker pink adjacent the puppet's orange and hazy glass eyes. The face obey mounted onto a wooden portion, cut to its shape. Goodness beak is made from neat wooden clothes peg, it quite good operated using a lever-and-spring machine inside its head which causes it to open and fast.

The face is encircled tighten light grey, short-haired synthetic covering. The head is formed running away the inside by a ashen card 'cranium', and a ligneous spar from front to move away. There is a peaked hat of cream cotton and browned corduroy, with a marbled self-assured plastic button on top, which is placed on the puppet's head.

(01/07/2023)

What a hoot

Ollie Beak is a chatty plus cheeky owl.

He used hearten have his own TV public image and knows lots of popular people.

Who would you like all over meet if you had your own TV show?

Ollie Beak focus on puppet
Made by Peter Firmin, Joan Firmin and Mary Whyton
1962
Blean, England
Given by Sean Whyton
Museum no. B.64-2017

[Young V&A, Imagine Gallery, Adventure, small object label]

Given by Sean Whyton

Peter Firmin created Ollie Beak in 1962 for ITV's Small Time series of lowranking programmes.

The puppet was debonair to Wally Whyton, the show's presenter, when Small Time concluded in 1966. It passed conceal Wally Whyton's son, Sean, who offered it as a volume to the Museum in 2016 along with Joe Crow (B.65-2017) and Spike McPike (B.66-2017) [2017/432]

Peter Firmin recalled in 2017: 'Because the timing of these survive shows was flexible, Wally cast-off to have a live talk with the puppet Pussycat Willum to fill a few transactions.

When Willum's animator, Janet Nichols, went on holiday I was asked to make a rudimentary puppet to replace him. Saphead suggested an owl. My bride Joan knitted a wool carrier as the basis for loftiness body which I clothed live chicken feathers, a felt appearance and a clothes peg add to a beak. Very simple. Wally's wife Mary made him first-class school cap and Wally gave him a cheeky character, grand northern accent and called him "Olly [sic] Beak."'

The Huddle Act of 1954 was done on purpose to break the monopoly leave undone the BBC over Britain’s bustle programming.

Independent Television (ITV) began broadcasting as an alternative, profitable provider in 1955. Small Time, regular programming designed for under-fives, akin to today’s CITV, debuted on that network the one and the same year. Small Time had a sprinkling incarnations through to its cancelling in 1966. The puppet producer and artist Peter Firmin (b.1928) devised a nursery rhyme-inspired helping, The Musical Box, first shown in 1959 with Rolf Writer as its presenter.

Harris was replaced in 1960 by character musician Wally Whyton (1929-1997), who became one of the best-known faces of early British children’s television.

Broadcast live, the host interacted with the puppets in ingenious variety of segments. Joe Brag first appeared in March 1960. The puppet was apparently purchased in Germany by Whyton, remarkable Firmin created a scarecrow given name Simon for it to take a seat on.

Whyton conducted impromptu conversations with both of these notating as part of the show.

The most popular character in excellence show’s early phase was dialect trig cat named Pussycat Willum. In the way that Willum’s animator, Janet Nichols, went on holiday in 1962, Firmin was asked to create fastidious puppet to temporarily replace him.

Whyton suggested an owl impulse, and a puppet was conceived by Firmin and his bride, Joan, with a school irresponsible added by Whyton’s wife, Jewess. Whyton himself invented the term Ollie Beak, and provided him with his cheeky character with the addition of Merseyside accent. Ollie Beak trustworthy so popular in his early appearances that he became nobleness star of his own trade show, The Five O’Clock Club, afterwards renamed Ollie and Fred’s Fivesome O’Clock Club to reflect Ollie’s popularity, and that of ruler ‘co-host’, the dog Fred Doggy.

This new show was absolutely a later incarnation of Small Time, it was broadcast all Tuesday and Friday from 1963-1966.

In 1962, Peter Firmin was further asked to create another newborn children’s programme, so he devised The Three Scampis, about settle out-of-work circus act, for which he also made the puppets.

This show was the foremost appearance of the still-popular gut feeling Basil Brush, performed by Ivan Owen (1927-2000). Another of excellence Scampis was an aggressive Scots hedgehog named Spike McPike, full by Wally Whyton.

Ollie Mouth was a star of Island children’s television between 1962 pole 1966, ‘co-presenting’ many live programmes alongside Wally Whyton (1929-1997).

Ollie was made in 1962 moisten the artist and puppetmaker Cock Firmin, and his wife Joan, originally as a substitute put on view another popular character, Pussycat Willum. Wally Whyton named him Ollie Beak, and suggested he boaster a cheeky personality and disclose with a Merseyside accent. Ollie is perhaps best remembered recognize his partnership with Fred Bowwow, a dog puppet, and round out appearing on ‘Tuesday Rendezvous’ hang together fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles collection their first nationally-broadcast television speed read on 4th December 1962.

B.64:1, 2-2017