Richard Lewis Hearne (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979) was an English

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, producer and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. He is best remembered for his stage and television character Mr Pastry.

Career

Hearne was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, Norfolk, in 1908, the son of Richard and Lily May Hearne. Richard senior came from a theatrical family – his mother had been on the stage and he himself was a performing

acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

. Hearne worked on and off for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

for thirty years; he became the first performer to be known as a "television star" and also the first to have his own television series. The series, with the theme tune " Pop Goes the Weasel", had episodes lasting 25 minutes in which Hearne assumed the character of "Mr Pastry" – an old man with a walrus moustache, dressed in a black suit or raincoat and with a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...

. Each week, the bumbling old man would have adventures, partly

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

, partly comic

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, with two young friends.

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he became known as a comedy actor, playing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee (and three other roles) in ...

also starred in the show in a variety of roles. The Mr Pastry character had originated in the 1936 stage show ''Big Boy'' in which Hearne had appeared with

Fred Emney Frederick Arthur Round Emney (12 February 1900 – 25 December 1980) was an English character actor and comedian. Emney was born in Prescot, Lancashire,GRO Register of Births Mar 1900 Frederick Arthur R Emney 8b 725 PRESCOT1901 Census: RG ...

. A Mr Pastry film ''

The Time of His Life ''The Time of His Life'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Richard Hearne, Ellen Pollock, Richard Wattis and Robert Moreton. The screenplay was by Hiscott and Hearne from a story by Hiscott and Brock Wi ...

'', was subsequently released in 1955, but portrayed the lead character as a pathetic figure coming out of prison and totally different from the TV series' bumbling comic. His act first appeared on the US ''

Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Nig ...

'' in 1954, and thereafter Hearne appeared on the show frequently.

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

was reportedly a fan. Hearne was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1959 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

at the BBC Television Theatre. In 1963, Hearne became President of the Lord's Taverners charity and he subsequently raised money for hundreds of

hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and Physical therapy, physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and ...

pools. In 1970, he was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for his charitable work. He was interviewed for the role of the

Fourth Doctor The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from ...

in the BBC series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' after the 1974 departure of

, but a misunderstanding over the required interpretation of the role (he anticipated playing the Doctor as Mr Pastry) led to no offer being made by the producer,

Barry Letts Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was an English actor, television director, writer and producer, best known for being the producer of ''Doctor Who'' from 1969 to 1974. Born in Leicester, he worked as an actor in theatre, ...

. The role was subsequently offered to

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...

. In 1976, he appeared as Mr Pastry on the BBC's old time music hall show, '' The Good Old Days''. Hearne died in Bearsted, Kent, in 1979, aged 71, leaving a widow, Yvonne (née Ortner), and two children. He was buried in the churchyard in the village of St. Mary's Platt, near

Borough Green Borough Green is a civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The central area is situated on the A25 road between Maidstone and Sevenoaks, with the M26 motorway running through the centre dividing Wrotham and Borough ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He had lived at Platt Farm, a fifteenth-century property in Long Mill Lane in the village, from the 1940s, and ran a market garden there.''The Television Annual for 1952'', ed. by Kenneth Baily, Odhams Press, p. 94.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Article at Whirligig-tv.co.uk

"Hearne At Home Aka Mr Pastry 1957"
at

British Pathe British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

"Mr Pastry At The Circus (1960)"
at British Pathe {{DEFAULTSORT:Hearne, Richard 1908 births 1979 deaths English male comedians Male actors from Norwich Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century English male actors People from Bearsted 20th-century English comedians Burials in Kent Comedians from Norwich