Bungle is a character in the British children's television series ''

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

''. He is a large brown furry bear and is played by various actors, but chiefly

Stanley Bates Stanley Kevin Bates (born 8 October 1942 in East Finchley, London) is a British actor and screen writer best known for the role of Bungle, and as a scriptwriter, in the children's television programme, ''Rainbow'' between 1973 and 1989, series 2 ...

. Bungle is inquisitive but also clumsy, and each show typically represents Bungle involved in a comic dispute with the other puppet characters, Zippy and

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

, with

Geoffrey Hayes Charles Geoffrey Hayes (13 March 1942 – 30 September 2018) was an English television presenter and actor. He presented Thames Television's children's show ''Rainbow'' from 1972 to 1992. Early life and education Hayes had various jobs such as ...

mediating. Bungle appears without clothes during the day, but puts pyjamas on to go to bed and has a towel round his waist after a bath.

Character history

Originally, Bungle's face stuck out more, and his belly was white. He also looked more like a bear, but from the second series onwards the crew made him look more cartoon-like because some of the younger viewers were frightened by his realistic appearance. They made his fur more of an orange-brown colour, and his head was enlarged with his face squashed in. An

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

holds that one actor (presumably Stanley Bates) playing the role of Bungle was fired after swearing at a child who had deliberately stood on his foot during a live show, although long-time ''

'' contributor Malcolm Lord revealed that Bates chose to stand down before the live shows began in order to concentrate upon scriptwriting, giving Lord the opportunity to portray Bungle himself.Malcolm Lord
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References

Television characters introduced in 1972 Fictional bears Rainbow (TV series) characters {{tv-char-stub

Character history

Further reading

References