Wilfred Makepeace Lunn (born 1942 in

Rastrick Rastrick is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England, between Halifax, 5 miles (8 km) north-east and Huddersfield, 4 miles (7 km) south. The population of the Calderdale Civil Ward at the 2011 census was 11,351. It is perhaps best ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England) is an English inventor, prop maker and TV presenter. He is best known for his regular appearances on the 1960s and 1970s UK children's television show ''

Vision On ''Vision On'' was a British children's television programme, shown on BBC1 from 1964 to 1976 and designed specifically for children with hearing impairment. Concept and production ''Vision On'' was conceived and developed by BBC producers Urs ...

''.

Early life and career

Lunn was born in

, England to deaf parents. His upbringing was to later allow him to teach lip-reading as well as religious education at Odsal House School for the Deaf in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. In the first part of this self-made interview video series "My Best Cellar", available through his website, Lunn claims he was "brought up in a cellar by deaf mutes". The parents of actor

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

lived on the same street as Lunn who met Mason when he was visiting them. Mason introduced Lunn to agent Blanche Marvin. Lunn had already written a television play entitled ''Benny Rolly'' which, unusually for the time, was without dialogue and Marvin thought it would be of interest to the deaf. She arranged an interview with Patrick Dowling the producer of BBC's ''Vision On'' and Lunn took along some of his models to demonstrate. Dowling was unable to employ Lunn but suggested an exhibition of his cycles. On the opening night of the exhibition, which had been arranged by Marvin, TV presenter

Joan Bakewell Joan Dawson Bakewell, Baroness Bakewell, ('' née'' Rowlands; born 16 April 1933), is an English journalist, television presenter and Labour Party peer. Baroness Bakewell is president of Birkbeck, University of London; she is also an auth ...

visited and invited Lunn to appear on ''

Late Night Line-Up ''Late Night Line-Up'' was a pioneering British television discussion programme broadcast on BBC2 between 1964 and 1972. Background From its launch in April 1964, BBC2 began each evening's transmission with a programme called ''Line-Up'', a ten- ...

'' that night. This was Lunn's first television appearance. Lunn was later invited to appear on the children's TV show ''

Magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

'' on which he spoke on a variety of subjects including bottles and the history of the domestic smoothing iron. Meanwhile Dowling approached Lunn with a request to make a 'door-bell machine'. Lunn constructed the device and appeared with it on ''Vision On''. Lunn would go to appear on the programme for many years, with

Tony Hart Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009),Debrett's People of Today 2008, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2007. known professionally as Tony Hart, was an English artist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role ...

and

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...

, demonstrating his latest inventions. He later appeared in several other series, including ''

Jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces Arts and media Comics * Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...

'' and ''

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

''. Lunn is a prolific constructor of novelty bicycles and an inventor of strange devices, amongst which was a collection formerly to be found in the Inventions Bar,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. Lunn has also appeared as an after-dinner speaker for many functions including the Edinburgh School of Architecture Winter School, and the Society of Industrial Artists Golden Jubilee. He has also been a member of the panel of judges for the World Disco Championship. When asked, in an interview with the

b3ta B3ta (stylised as b3ta) is a popular British website, described as a "puerile digital arts community" by ''The Guardian''. It was founded in 2001 by Rob Manuel, Denise Wilton and Cal Henderson. B3ta's main feature is a newsletter featuring ...

website, "In the event of the end of the world, what would be the last thing you'd do before death?" Lunn answered: "I'm constantly being told at the end I would turn to God. I always point out it was your God that made me an atheist. I have been teetotal for fifteen years, so I would turn to drink."

Television appearances

* ''

'' * ''

Ask Aspel ''Ask Aspel'' was a British television series produced by the BBC and hosted by Michael Aspel. The format of the show, which first ran from 1970 until 1973, featured a well-known guest who answered questions sent in by viewers, posed by Aspel o ...

'' * ''Patently Obvious'' * ''Object in Question'' * ''

Jim'll Fix It ''Jim'll Fix It'' is a British television series broadcast by the BBC between May 1975 and July 1994 and was devised and presented by Jimmy Savile and produced by Roger Ordish. The show encouraged children to write in a letter to Savile with a ...

'' * ''What's the Idea'' (writer and presenter) * ''

Game for a Laugh ''Game for a Laugh'' was a British light entertainment programme which ran for 56 editions and four specials between 26 September 1981 and 23 November 1985, made by LWT for the ITV network. Description The show revolved around a variety of ...

'' * ''

The 6 O'Clock Show ''The Six O'Clock Show'' is an Irish evening-time television show on Virgin Media One (formerly known as "TV3"). It is a live show, and provides chat, live music, cooking, entertainment, showbiz and technology updates. It replaced '' The 7 O'C ...

'' * ''Home James'' (James Mason documentary) * ''Mad Science'' * '' The Word'' * ''

See It Saw It ''See It Saw It'' is a children's game show about a king who rules over the kingdom of "Much Jollity-on-the-Mirth". It ran from 6 January 1999 to 26 March 2001. The programme was filmed entirely in a studio, with an audience of children, who at va ...

'' * ''

3-2-1 ''3–2–1'' was a British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, from 29 July 1978 to 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host. It was based on a Spanish gameshow called '' Un, dos, tres... resp ...

'' (game designer) * '' Mooncat'' - presenter * ''Magic Music Man'' (art director) * '' Fun Factory'' * '' Rolf on Saturday, OK!'' * ''Fantastic Facts'' (with

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

)

Stage shows

* Huddersfield Novelty Suicide Company - Disco Queen (

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

) *

Theatre Museum The Theatre Museum in the Covent Garden district of London, England, was the United Kingdom's national museum of the performing arts. It was a branch of the UK's national museum of applied arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum. It opened in 1974 ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

(one-man-show)

Books

* ''Mad Things to Make from 'Vision On (1976) * ''Cheap, Cheerful and Sometimes Grotty Gifts to Make'' (1984) * ''My Best Cellar: An Autobiography Up to the Age of Eleven... and Other Stuff '' (2008), Shaffron Publishing Ltd , * ''No Animals Were Harmed Making These Christmas Cards'' (2012)

Awards

Prix Jeunesse Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

* BAFTA Harlequin Award for Drama/Light Entertainment (for ''Jigsaw'') * Critic's Award * Ohio State Award

References

External links

Wilf Lunn's web site
*
BBC -Vision OnBritish Film Institute - Vision On

Early life and career

Television appearances

Stage shows

Books

Awards

References

External links

See also