Ventriloquist Terry Hall, the creator and voice of a puppet named Lenny the Lion, died yesterday. Terry and Lenny made their television debut on the BBC in 1956, and subsequently starred in four programs including the Lenny the Lion Show, Lenny’s Den, Pops and Lenny and Reading With Lenny.
It has been noted that David Bowie was a childhood fan of Lenny the Lion. In fact, his father, Haywood, worked on the Pops and Lenny show and launched the Lenny the Lion Fan Club. According to the Times Online, Terry “was proud that Lenny received more fan mail than he did.”
See if this reminds you of anyone: the Times also reports that “Terry sometimes found it difficult to step out of character off stage and would talk with fellow artistes accompanied by Lenny. ‘I did a Sunday night variety show with him,’ said the magician John Wade. ‘He wanted me to talk with Lenny in the dressing room.’”
Terry passed away in Coventry, West Midlands after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years. Read more about Terry and Lenny’s career together on the Oldham Advertiser.