Australian children’s show entertainer, Humphrey B. Bear, is unemployed and
keen to return to the television screen. If he is not employed again, he will
end up in the storeroom (The Advertiser,
February 6, 2016).
Humphrey B. Bear is from South Australia, where I grew up. He commenced his
career in May 1965 – 50 years ago – on his own program, Here’s Humphrey. He won
a Logie for best children’s series (it’s like an Oscar at the Academy Awards),
and in 1994 he was given a special Citizen of the Year award. He’s been
continuously employed on his show until 2009 – 44 years – making it the second
longest running TV show for children in the world. Since then he continued to
appear in other productions and in repeats of the program. He continues with
his charity work and road safety campaigns.
He is tall, wears a stylish straw boater hat, tartan waistcoat, and
flamboyant yellow bow-tie. He is a fun loving, honey-eating, accident-prone
bear, who gets in all manner of strife. He is forever four years old, and lives
in a tree house in the middle of the magic forest.
He has received criticism over the years, primarily for not wearing pants
on television and for being mute. Although he cannot speak, this has never
interferred with his professional duties, and his 50 years on screen is proof
of his popularity.
Imagination CEO, Shane Yeend, who purchased him in 2012, said that Humphrey
B. Bear is for sale, and that he needs to be back on screen and working again.
If he is not employed again, he will end up in the storeroom.
The newspaper reports that Mr Bear has declined to comment.
By the way, his middle name is Bear. Humphrey Bear Bear.
Image credits: Roger Wyman (top), Simon Cross (50-years).
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:-
The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends
(2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan
Curse (2009).
Comments
Post a Comment