More sad news, especially for those of us of a certain age as it was reported over the weekend that artist and television presenter Tony Hart had passed away at the age of 83. Tony had been in declining health for some time (you may recall late last year he explained to the media that following a couple of strokes he had finally had to stop drawing, a bitter blow for any artist); his family said that the well-loved artist passed away peacefully. Tony was on British screens for the best part of fifty years and countless numbers of British kids must have been excited and inspired by his creative art shows and gentle manner (just how many of us grew up with his shows?).From the late 70s on Tony was joined by a little plasticine pal, Morph, created by the now famous animator Peter Lord and an early outing for what’s now one of our most famous (and loved) animation studios, Aardman Animation.
(Tony Hart on the set of Take Hart – can’t you just hear that distinctive music that went along with the viewer’s gallery? Pic from and (c) BBC)
I can’t help but wonder how many of the artists in British comics we adore today first got the drawing bug as young children watching Take Hart or Vision On, or how many already had the bug but found Tony’s programmes nurtured that spark of talent and gave them new ideas to try? Its very sad, a little bit of our collective childhood just drifted away; I think we’ll leave the last words to Tony, speaking just a few months back about no longer being able to practise his art but being buoyed up by support from fans:
“My aged heart is warmed by the lovely letters and e-mails I receive, especially when they tell me that my work on television inspired the writers to become artists, sometimes very successful ones.”
Mon, Jan 19, 2009
Art and animation, Film, TV and radio