Ivan Owen, the voice of Basil Brush dies age 73
gordon
Voice of Basil Brush is dead
Cancer has claimed the actor who gave TV fox puppet Basil Brush his Boom
Boom voice.
Ivan Owen died at his Devonshire home at the age of 73. With colleague Peter
Firmin, he brought to life the glove puppet with the tweed cape and the
famous catchphrase who became a children's TV icon of the Seventies.
Basil, a favourite among children for generations, was born from a programme
called The Three Scampies, and eventually given his own show by the BBC
regularly 12 million.
Rodney Bewes of Likely Lads fame was the puppet's first victim of his
special brand of awful jokes.
After 15 years on the BBC, Basil Brush was taken off in a row over programme
timings before a revival 18 months later in 1982 when Granada employed the
fox for a series called Let's Read with Basil Brush.
The puppet with the posh voice then went on to co-host the early evening
Crackerjack show with Stu Francis. Ivan Owen once said of his creation: "I
thought it would be nice to have a county fox - and Basil's a frightfully
good counties name, don't you think?"
A spokeswoman for Entertainment Rights who own the puppet character said:
"There are no plans that we know of for a member of Ivan's family to take
over his mantle of puppeteer.
"We have a series in development at the moment with Basil Brush, a sitcom,
which we are hoping will go out on air in the New Year."
When it was revealed last month that the man behind the legendary fox was
dying of cancer but might not live to see the new show go out on air, his
son, Michael, said: "Dad can leave Basil with a whole generation."
*************
For those outside the UK who have no idea who Basil Brush is,
http://www.flicks.com/~martin/basil_brush/basil.htm should help.
Basil Brush was a big part of my childhood. Back in the 1970's, Saturday
evening in the UK was when the whole family would get together, sit down
and be throughly entertained by the television for several hours. After the
afternoon sports programmes and the news headlines, Basil would be the
first on, with a human foil for his witty one liners. I didn't make a real
distinction between programmes back then. Basil Brush was followed by
Doctor Who, which was followed by The Generation Game (a gameshow).
Saturday night TV viewing has never been as good as it was then, and a big
part of that is die to Ivan and his fantastic vocal characterisation of a
quick
witted fox. Here's to you Ivan!
gordon - "Boom boom!"
little toad
"gordon" <yar...@leaderofthealienvoord.com> wrote in message
news:8sl7d6$8av$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...
: http://www3.itn.co.uk/news/20001018/britain/15basil.shtml
thank you! i've seen pictures of this fox in his deerstalker outfit, but had no
idea who it was. i really like learning about different cultures' icons. :-)
I am sorry to hear of the demise of mr owen.
:
: Basil Brush was a big part of my childhood. Back in the 1970's, Saturday
: evening in the UK was when the whole family would get together, sit down
: and be throughly entertained by the television for several hours. After the
: afternoon sports programmes and the news headlines, Basil would be the
: first on, with a human foil for his witty one liners. I didn't make a real
: distinction between programmes back then. Basil Brush was followed by
: Doctor Who, which was followed by The Generation Game (a gameshow).
: Saturday night TV viewing has never been as good as it was then, and a big
: part of that is die to Ivan and his fantastic vocal characterisation of a
: quick
: witted fox. Here's to you Ivan!
:
: gordon - "Boom boom!"
a fitting and heartfelt tribute. have you thought of sending it
in as a letter to an editor of a newspaper or magazine?
little toad
Lord [INSERT NAME HERE]
>
> http://www3.itn.co.uk/news/20001018/britain/15basil.shtml
>
> Voice of Basil Brush is dead
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
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headkase
"gordon" <yar...@leaderofthealienvoord.com> wrote:
> http://www3.itn.co.uk/news/20001018/britain/15basil.shtml
>
> Voice of Basil Brush is dead
> Basil Brush was a big part of my childhood. Back in the 1970's,
Saturday
> evening in the UK was when the whole family would get together, sit
down
> and be throughly entertained by the television for several hours.
After the
> afternoon sports programmes and the news headlines, Basil would be the
> first on, with a human foil for his witty one liners. I didn't make a
real
> distinction between programmes back then. Basil Brush was followed by
> Doctor Who, which was followed by The Generation Game (a gameshow).
> Saturday night TV viewing has never been as good as it was then, and
a big
> part of that is die to Ivan and his fantastic vocal characterisation
of a
> quick
> witted fox. Here's to you Ivan!
>
> gordon - "Boom boom!"
>
>
basil is a part of my childhood as well.....(a seventies aussie one)
i propose a 21 voice boom boom salute....
may he rest in peace.
hk
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
High Pope What The Hell Are They?!?
BOOM BOOM!!!!!!!!
headkase <head...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8snp1v$mq7$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
gordon
"little toad" <littl...@this.is.invalid> wrote in message
news:8slrg2$hl4$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net...
>
> "gordon" <yar...@leaderofthealienvoord.com> wrote in message
> news:8sl7d6$8av$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...
> :
> :
> :
> : Voice of Basil Brush is dead
> : evening in the UK was when the whole family would get together, sit down
> : and be throughly entertained by the television for several hours. After
the
> : afternoon sports programmes and the news headlines, Basil would be the
> : first on, with a human foil for his witty one liners. I didn't make a
real
> : distinction between programmes back then. Basil Brush was followed by
> : Doctor Who, which was followed by The Generation Game (a gameshow).
> : Saturday night TV viewing has never been as good as it was then, and a
big
> : part of that is die to Ivan and his fantastic vocal characterisation of
a
> : quick
> : witted fox. Here's to you Ivan!
> :
> : gordon - "Boom boom!"
>
> in as a letter to an editor of a newspaper or magazine?
>
> little toad
No, I'd never actually thought of doing that. I think I may, as the last
time a
true hero of mine died, I always meant to write something but didn't. Yes,
I think I may just well send it.
gordno - "Boom boom!"