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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
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
ist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role as a
children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
presenter. Hart initially served as an officer in a
Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...
regiment until the start of Indian independence. After this he became involved in children's television from the 1950s, working on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's '' Blue Peter'' for a few years before fronting a series of children's art programmes, including ''
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 Ur ...
'', '' Take Hart'' and '' Hartbeat''. Hart's contributions to children's television include the design of the ship logo used by ''Blue Peter'' and the show's
badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and ...
s, and the animated character of Morph, who appeared beside him on his programmes following his introduction in the 1970s.


Early life

Tony Hart was born in Hastings Road,
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...
in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. He was interested in drawing from an early age. He attended
All Saints, Margaret Street All Saints, Margaret Street, is a Grade I listed Anglo-Catholic church in London. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built between 1850 and 1859. It has been hailed as Butterfield's masterpiece and a pioneering buil ...
Resident Choir School and then
Clayesmore School Clayesmore School is an independent school for boys and girls, aged 2 – 18 years, in the village of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England. It is both a day and boarding school and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (H ...
in Iwerne Minster,
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
, where art was his best subject.


Military service

Hart left school in 1943 and wanted to join the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
, but as he would have been unable to fly owing to slightly deficient eyesight, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the British Indian Army instead where he gained an officers' commission in the 1st Gurkha Rifles. However, when he was told that lower-ranked British officers would be replaced by Indian officers following Indian independence, he decided to return to civilian life. The outbreak of the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
(25 June 1950) saw him being re-commissioned in the Territorial Army, attached to the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, from 23 November 1948 to 1 July 1950.


Career

After being demobilised, Hart decided to become a professional artist and studied at
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...
College of Art, which later became Kent Institute of Art & Design (and is now the Maidstone campus of the
University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Ins ...
). He graduated in 1950 and, after working as a display artist in a
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
store, became a freelance artist. Hart's break into broadcast television came in 1952, after his brother persuaded him to attend a party where he met a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
producer. After an interview in which Hart drew a fish on a napkin while the producer was looking for paper, Hart became resident artist on the ''Saturday Special'' programme. Subsequent television shows included '' Playbox'' (1954–59), '' Tich and Quackers'' (1963-), ''
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 Ur ...
'' (1964–76), '' Take Hart'' (1977–83), '' Hartbeat'' (1984–93), ''Artbox Bunch'' (1995–96) and ''Smart Hart'' (1999–2000). From the 1970s, he often appeared alongside the animated
Plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product category ...
stop-motion character Morph, created by
Peter Lord Peter Lord CBE (born 1953) is an English animator, director, producer and co-founder of the Academy Award-winning Aardman Animations studio, an animation firm best known for its clay-animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring p ...
of
Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...
. Hart was a regular face on the BBC children's programme '' Blue Peter'' in the 1950s and presented a number of programmes in 1959. Richard Marson's book ''Blue Peter: Inside the Archives'' lists Hart as a presenter in November 1959 but he is not officially listed as a host. As well as demonstrating small-scale projects (the type that viewers might be able to do) Hart also created large-scale artworks on the television studio floor, and even used beaches and other open spaces as 'canvases'. A regular feature of Hart's programmes was The Gallery, which displayed artworks (paintings, drawings and collages) sent in by young viewers. One of the pieces of easy-listening
vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
music accompanying this feature—" Left Bank Two", composed by Wayne Hill and performed by The Noveltones—has passed into British TV theme lore. This was first introduced in the show ''Vision On''. Hart also created the original design for the ''Blue Peter'' badge, also used as the programme's logo. 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 A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of u ...
of £100 (equivalent to around £3,061.58 at January 2020 rates). The badges are famous throughout the United Kingdom and have been coveted by successive generations of ''Blue Peter'' viewers. The ink and watercolour galleon, believed to be the inspiration for the Blue Peter logo and badge, was originally drawn by Hart for "Hooray for Humpty-Dumpty" on ''Saturday Special'', in 1952. Hart received two BAFTA awards. His first, for Best Children's Educational Programme, came in 1984 for ''Take Hart'', and he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He retired from regular TV work in 2001.


Personal life

Hart met his wife, Jean Skingle, while working in television; they married in 1953. They were married for fifty years until she died in 2003. They had a daughter, Carolyn, and two grandchildren.


Death

On 28 December 2006, it was announced during the reunion programme '' It Started with Swap Shop'' that Hart was in poor health, though this was not elaborated upon until an interview with ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' published on 30 September 2008, revealing that two strokes had robbed him of the use of his hands and left him unable to draw. He described this as "the greatest cross I have to bear". Hart died peacefully on 18 January 2009 at the age of 83. Hart's funeral took place in the village of
Shamley Green Wonersh is a village and civil parish in the Waverley district of Surrey, England and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Wonersh contains three Conservation Areas and spans an area three to six miles SSE of Guildford. In th ...
, where he had lived for more than forty years and he was buried in the churchyard of Christ Church.


Tributes

On 1 March 2009 a
flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...
, organised through
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
, paid tribute to Hart with around two hundred Morph figures displayed outside the
Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...
art gallery. Hart's daughter, Carolyn Ross, attended and judged the "Best Morph in Show". A memorial plaque is displayed in Hart's birthplace, the town of Maidstone, where he studied art at the town's art college. The plaque was unveiled by his daughter in May 2009 at the Hazlitt Arts Centre. In September 2010 ''Tony Hart: A Portrait of My Dad'', an affectionate biography of Hart by his daughter Carolyn, was published by
John Blake Publishing John Blake (born 6 November 1948) is an English publisher and former journalist. ''John Blake Publishing'' was acquired by Bonnier Publishing in May 2016. Blake joined ''Soho Friday'', launched in November 2018, a venture with Richard Johnson a ...
. In February 2015 a wave of tributes (followed by corrections) appeared on social media sites over a period of two days, when an individual mistakenly read a 2009 report of Hart's death and, missing the dateline, published it as news on Facebook, from which it was later transferred to
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. Many
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
posters hyperlinked to an article in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. The newspaper published a graph of the number of readers referred to its article for the period. Aardman Animations used its Twitter account, in the name of Morph, to point to a tribute to Hart (a portrait of him being hung on a wall) that was included in the last episode of its forthcoming new set of episodes for the ''Morph'' television series. In August 2021, a mural at Maidstone bus station was created, featuring Tony Hart and his sidekick Morph.


Legacy

In January 2021, 12 years after his death, it was announced that Hart's drawings of a galleon for the 1952 ''Humpty Dumpty'' story, that paved the way for the famous ''Blue Peter'' logo, together with copies of original 1950s designs for the emblem were to be auctioned. Consigned from the collection of Hart's close friend and agent Roc Renals (1922-2014), the sale was expected to raise close to £20,000. The 65-lot auction took place on 29 January.


References


External links


Official site

Obituary
''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', 18 January 2009
Obituary
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'', 18 January 2009
Obituary
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 19 January 2009
Interviews: Tony Hart
at B3TA

at ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Tony 1925 births 2009 deaths 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts BAFTA winners (people) Royal Gurkha Rifles officers English television presenters Blue Peter presenters People from Maidstone People from Surrey People educated at Clayesmore School Indian Army personnel of World War II 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Artillery officers 20th-century English male artists