UPDATED 29 JAN 2010: PATRICK TROUGHTON PAGE
Hello. I hope you enjoy browsing my site and looking at my quirky collections!
The Collections ~
A collection of over 200 traditional Punch and Judy puppets, displayed in four galleries.
Featuring traditional Punch & Judy figures by Bryan Clarke, Teddy Corden, Chris van der Craats, Geoff Felix, Tony Green, Wal Kent, Joe Parsonage, Mark Poulton, Franklin Spence, Fred Tickner and Bob Wade, these galleries pay tribute to the art of the Punch and Judy maker. The majority of the puppets are handcarved from wood.
Gallery four features a selection of other puppets and memorabilia, including the ventriloquist's doll owned and used by master puppet maker Fred Tickner, and a replica of the murderous Mr Sin from the classic Doctor Who adventure, The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977).
The collection also includes the puppets used by Ernest Brisbane, who was the first credited person to perform Punch and Judy on the beach at Swanage, Dorset, England in the 1950s.
The Patrick Troughton collection features a selection of unique memorabilia, including the actor's early scrapbooks (1946-56), compiled by Patrick and his first wife, handwritten letters, and Pat's own script for the film,The Omen. As well as a lifesize figure of Patrick Troughton as Doctor Who!
Patrick George Troughton (25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was a prolific English actor, most widely known in his role as the second Doctor in the long running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Other roles included the lead in Robin Hood (1953), St Paul in Paul of Tarsus (1960), Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop (1962), Father Brennan in The Omen (1976), and mysterious Punch and Judy man Cole Hawlings in The Box of Delights (1984). He was an actor of great versatility and had the ability to disguise himself in a role.
The Kenneth Williams collection contains an array of original correspondence, including letters and poems from Ken to his mother and sister. The first fourteen items in the archive belonged to Kenneth's sister Patricia (Pat) Williams. Following her death in 1994, her godson, to whom they had been bequeathed, sold them to an autograph dealer. I saved this important archive from being split up and sold off individually after seeing one of the poems on an internet auction site, and recognizing it as one quoted in Michael Freedland's 1990 biography of KW.
Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English comic actor, raconteur, and diarist. He starred in 26 Carry On films and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne. He was one of the great institutions of British entertainment.
Original puppets of Tony Hancock and Kenneth Williams from the British satirical puppet show Spitting Image, that ran on the ITV television network from 1984 to 1996, appear alongside fellow caricatured British retro comedians Tommy Cooper, Larry Grayson and Frankie Howerd in the Comedians gallery. This section also includes a tribute to that great comedy actress Mollie Sugden, best known as Mrs Slocombe in Are You Being Served? TV gold!
BRYAN CLARKE'S WEBSITE
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