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{{short description|English artist and TV presenter}}
{{About|the British children's television personality and artist}}
{{Infobox person
| name= Tony Hart
| image = Norman Antony Hart.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Norman Antony Hart
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1925|10|15}}
| birth_place = [[Maidstone]], [[Kent]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2009|1|18|1925|10|15}}
| death_place = [[Shamley Green]], [[Surrey]], England
| nationality = British
| occupation = Artist, television presenter
| years_active = 1952–2001
| resting_place = Christ Church, [[Shamley Green]], Surrey, England
| website = {{URL|tonyhart.co.uk/}}
}}

'''Norman Antony Hart''' (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009),<ref name="Debrett">Debrett's People of Today 2008, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2007.</ref><ref name=tele>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4283568/Tony-Hart.html|title=Tony Hart|accessdate=18 January 2008|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|date=18 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=Times-interview>{{Cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4847425.ece|title=Tony Hart reveals his drawing secrets|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=30 September 2022}}</ref> known professionally as '''Tony Hart''', was an English [[art]]ist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role as a [[children's television]] presenter.

Hart initially served as an officer in a [[Gurkha]] regiment until the start of [[Partition of India|Indian independence]]. After this he became involved in children's television from the 1950s, working on the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Blue Peter]]'' for a few years before fronting a series of children's art programmes, including ''[[Vision On]]'', ''[[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 [[Blue Peter badge|badge]]s, and the animated character of [[Morph (character)|Morph]], who appeared beside him on his programmes following his introduction in the 1970s.

==Early life==
Tony Hart was born in Hastings Road, [[Maidstone]] in [[Kent]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/kent/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8488000/8488010.stm|title=Remembering Maidstone's Tony Hart|date=29 January 2010|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> He was interested in drawing from an early age.<ref name=Times-interview/> He attended [[All Saints, Margaret Street]] Resident Choir School and then [[Clayesmore School]] in [[Iwerne Minster]], [[Dorset]],<ref name=TH-bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.tonyhart.co.uk/more_about_tony_hart.htm|title=All you ever wanted to know about Tony Hart|publisher=Tony Hart official website|accessdate=1 October 2022}}</ref> where art was his best subject.<ref name=Times-interview/>

==Military service==
Hart left school in 1943 and wanted to join the [[Royal Air Force]], 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 [[1 Gorkha Rifles|1st Gurkha Rifles]].{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} However, when he was told that lower-ranked British officers would be replaced by Indian officers following [[Partition of India|Indian independence]], he decided to return to civilian life.<ref name=Times-interview/>{{failed verification|date=October 2021}} The outbreak of the [[Korean War]] (25 June 1950) saw him being re-commissioned in the [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]], attached to the [[Royal Artillery]], from 23 November 1948 to 1 July 1950.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38543 |supp=y|pages=940–941|date=22 February 1949}}<br />{{London Gazette|issue=39036 |supp=y|page=5017|date=10 October 1950}}</ref>

==Career==
After being demobilised, Hart decided to become a professional artist and studied at [[Maidstone]] College of Art,<ref name=Times-interview/> which later became [[Kent Institute of Art & Design]] (and is now the Maidstone campus of the [[University for the Creative Arts]]). He graduated in 1950 and, after working as a display artist in a [[London]] store, became a freelance artist.<ref name=Times-interview/>

Hart's break into broadcast television came in 1952, after his brother persuaded him to attend a party where he met a [[BBC]] [[children's television]] 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.<ref name=tele/> Subsequent television shows included ''[[Playbox (1950s TV series)|Playbox]]'' (1954–59), ''[[Tich and Quackers]]'' (1963-), ''[[Vision On]]'' (1964–76), ''[[Take Hart]]'' (1977–83), ''[[Hartbeat]]'' (1984–93), ''Artbox Bunch'' (1995–96) and ''Smart Hart'' (1999–2000).<ref name=Hart-TV>{{cite web| url=http://www.tonyhart.co.uk/tony_hart_tv_career.htm|title=Television career at a glance| publisher=Tony Hart official website|accessdate=1 October 2022}}</ref> From the 1970s, he often appeared alongside the animated [[Plasticine]] [[stop-motion]] character [[Morph (character)|Morph]], created by [[Peter Lord]] of [[Aardman Animations]].

Hart was a regular face on the BBC children's programme ''[[Blue Peter]]'' in the 1950s and presented a number of programmes in 1959.<ref name=tele /> 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'.<ref name=Independent>{{cite news|last1=Hayward|first1=Anthony|title=Tony Hart: Inspirational artist and television presenter|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/tony-hart-inspirational-artist-and-television-presenter-1451429.html|work=[[The Independent]]|date=20 January 2022}}</ref>

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]] music accompanying this feature—"[[Left Bank Two]]", composed by Wayne Hill and performed by The Noveltones<ref name="bbc-nostalgia">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7837849.stm |title=A bit of vibraphone nostalgia |work=BBC News|date=19 January 2009 |accessdate=6 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Noveltones|url=http://www.dewolfemusic.com/SEO/SEOList.php?type=0&id=4664|website=[[De Wolfe Music]]|accessdate=3 January 2022}}</ref>—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|''Blue Peter'' badge]], also used as the programme's logo. He originally asked for his fee to be paid as a [[royalty payment|royalty]] of 1d (one pre-[[Decimal Day|decimalisation]] penny) for each badge made, but was offered a [[flat fee]] of £100<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/wk42/feature_bpeter.shtml|title=BBC - Press Office - Network TV Programme Information Week 42 Blue Peter Feature|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref name=Hart-about2>{{cite web|url=http://www.tonyhart.co.uk/more_about_tony_hart_2.htm|title=All you ever wanted to know about Tony Hart (page 2)|publisher=Tony Hart official website|accessdate=1 October 2022}}</ref> (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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://downthetubes.net/art-by-tvs-tony-hart-including-original-blue-peter-logo-design-offered-at-auction/|title=Art by TV's Tony Hart, including original "Blue Peter" logo design, offered at auction|first=John|last=Freeman|date=26 December 2022}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Independent /> He retired from regular TV work in 2001.<ref name=Times-interview/>

==Personal life==
Hart met his wife, Jean Skingle, while working in television; they married in 1953.<ref name=tele/> They were married for fifty years until she died in 2003. They had a daughter, Carolyn, and two grandchildren.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/18/tony-hart-morph|title=Children's TV artist Tony Hart dies|date=18 January 2009|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

==Death==
On 28 December 2006, it was announced during the reunion programme ''[[Multi-Coloured Swap Shop#It Started With Swap Shop|It Started with Swap Shop]]'' that Hart was in poor health, though this was not elaborated upon until an interview with ''[[The Times]]'' published on 30 September 2008, revealing that two [[stroke]]s 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".<ref name=Times-interview/> Hart died peacefully on 18 January 2009 at the age of 83.<ref name="BBCObit">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7836112.stm|title=TV presenter Tony Hart dies at 83|date=18 January 2009|work=BBC News |accessdate=18 January 2022}}</ref>

Hart's funeral took place in the village of [[Shamley Green]], where he had lived for more than forty years and he was buried in the churchyard of [[Christ Church, Shamley Green|Christ Church]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7859235.stm|title=Funeral for TV artist Tony Hart|work=BBC News| date=29 January 2009 | accessdate=26 March 2022}}</ref>

===Tributes===
On 1 March 2009 a [[flash mob]], organised through [[Facebook]], paid tribute to Hart with around two hundred Morph figures displayed outside the [[Tate Modern]] art gallery. Hart's daughter, Carolyn Ross, attended and judged the "Best Morph in Show".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7918002.stm|title=Army of Morphs remember Tony Hart|work=BBC News| date=1 March 2009 | accessdate=26 March 2022}}</ref>

A memorial plaque is displayed in Hart's birthplace, the town of Maidstone, where he studied art at the town's art college.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/7895946.stm|title=Tony Hart memorial gets approval|work=BBC News| date=17 February 2009 | accessdate=26 March 2022}}</ref> The plaque was unveiled by his daughter in May 2009 at the [[Hazlitt Theatre|Hazlitt Arts Centre]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8075792.stm|title=Memorial unveiled for TV artist|date=31 May 2009|work=BBC News|accessdate=31 May 2022}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/268730/Tony-Hart-the-tortured-genius|title=Tony Hart, the tortured genius|first=Carolyn|last=Ross|work=Daily Express|date=2 September 2011|accessdate=20 April 2022}}</ref>

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]]. Many [[social media]] posters hyperlinked to an article in ''[[The Guardian]]''. 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.<ref name="Rawlinson2015">{{cite news|first=Kevin|last=Rawlinson|title=Reports of Tony Hart's second death are greatly exaggerated|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=16 February 2015|url=http://theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/16/tony-harts-second-death-are-greatly-exaggerated}}</ref><ref name="BBC2015">{{cite news|work=[[BBC News]]|title=How Tony Hart was mourned twice on Twitter|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-31491991|date=16 February 2022}}</ref><ref name="Wells2015">{{cite news|first=David|last=Wells|newspaper=[[Western Morning News]]|title=How tributes to the late TV artist #TonyHart – six years after his death – reveal the short-term memory of social media|url=http://westernmorningnews.co.uk./tributes-late-TV-artist-TonyHart-8211-years-death/story-26033182-detail/story.html|date=16 February 2022}}</ref>

In August 2021, a mural at Maidstone bus station was created, featuring Tony Hart and his sidekick Morph.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/tony-hart-and-morph-immortalised-at-bus-station-252595/ |title=New mural at Maidstone Bus Station next to The Mall shopping centre in King Street pays tribute to artist and presenter Tony Hart |last= Cruz Lima |first=Juliana |date=19 August 2021 |access-date=3 June 2022}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.agilitypr.news/Tony-Hart-Auction-Reveals-How-His-Work-o-14459|first=Craig |last=Simpson|title=Tony Hart Auction Reveals How His Work on Another BBC Show Years Before Inspired the Blue Peter Ship Emblem|website=Agility PR Solutions Newsroom|date=5 January 2021|accessdate=7 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/05/blue-peter-ship-emblem-inspired-pirate-humpty-dumpty-tony-hart/|title=Blue Peter's ship-shaped emblem created by Tony Hart, collection reveals|first=Craig|last=Simpson|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=5 January 2021|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|accessdate=7 January 2021}}</ref> The 65-lot auction took place on 29 January.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/ewbanks/catalogue-id-srew10256|title=Ewbank's | The Tony Hart Auction - The Collection of Roc Renals|website=www.the-saleroom.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.tonyhart.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5541284.ece Obituary], ''[[The Times]]'', 18 January 2009
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4283568/Tony-Hart.html Obituary], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 18 January 2009
* [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/19/tony-hart1 Obituary], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 19 January 2009
* [http://www.b3ta.com/interview/tonyhart/ Interviews: Tony Hart] at B3TA
* [https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,1590173,00.html "A fond farewell to Morph"] at ''[[The Guardian]]''
* {{IMDb name|0366562|Tony Hart}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Tony}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English painters]]
[[Category:English male painters]]
[[Category:21st-century English painters]]
[[Category:21st-century English male artists]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (people)]]
[[Category:Royal Gurkha Rifles officers]]
[[Category:English television presenters]]
[[Category:Blue Peter presenters]]
[[Category:People from Maidstone]]
[[Category:People from Surrey]]
[[Category:People educated at Clayesmore School]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century British Army personnel]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:20th-century English male artists]]

Tony Hart - Revision history

CarrerNaksha: Updated formatting and improved readability

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

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