Toni Arthur-Hay (born Antoinette Alice Priscilla Wilson; 27 December 1940) is an English

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, former

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and television presenter.

Early life and education

Arthur was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. At the age of nine, she won a scholarship to the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, and gave a concert at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in the same year. She was educated at Mary Datchelor Girls School in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

and the

. In 1959, Toni Arthur went to

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

to become a nurse, and then went on to start a degree in psychology at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

Television

Arthur was one of the presenters of the children's programmes '' Play School'' and ''

Play Away ''Play Away'' is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series '' Play School'', it was aimed at slightly older children. It ran from 1971 until 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons on BBC 2.Alis ...

'' with Brian Cant,

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, ...

and Lionel Morton. She also presented ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' and

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

's breakfast show.

Music

After releasing their first single, the traditional songs "The Cuckoo" / "A Rich and Rambling Boy", under the name The Strollers on

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

(TF 598) in July 1965, Toni released several

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s with her then-husband, Dave Arthur. These included ''Morning Stands on Tiptoe'' (1967), ''The Lark in the Morning'' (1969) and '' Hearken to the Witches Rune'' (1971). With her husband, she recalls travelling the world, singing in folk clubs. ''Hearken to the Witches Rune'' was released on the red Trailer label in the UK in 1971. The tracklist is as follows: " Alison Gross", "

Tam Lin Tam Lin, also known as Tamas-Lin, Tamlane, Tamlene, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam-Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam-Lyn or Tam-Lane, is a character in the legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. History The story of Tam Lin revolves around ...

", "A Fairy Tale", "The Fairy Child", "Broomfield Hill", "The Standing Stones", " The Cruel Mother", and "Alice Brand". All are traditional songs. Some copies of this album came with a 'Magic in Ballads' booklet. It was while Arthur was performing in a folk club, she has said, that a BBC producer approached her about auditioning for a children's BBC programme called ''Play School''. She gained the job, even though, she says she was wearing "an incredibly short skirt." Arthur also appeared on a BBC album that was a spin off from the BBC children's programme ''Play Away'' in 1977. ''Ready Steady Go – Play Away'' was full of songs in the Music Hall style. She appeared as a solo artist on tracks such as "Doctor Foster Tours The World", "Running, Stretching, Racing", "Why Does The Winkle Always Turn to the Right?" and "Night Express North Bound". She also performed many ensemble songs with Brian Cant.

Books

Arthur has written several plays and books, including ''All The Year Round – A Compendium of Games, Customs and Stories'', which was a children's book of crafts for celebrating the seasons. This was published by Puffin Books on 27 August 1981, .

Theatre

In 2003, Arthur directed ''A Very Naughty Boy'' by Adrian Poynton, based on the life of

Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the Surreal humour, surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel (Monty Py ...

. It won a first prize at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

Personal life

Arthur married the singer and storyteller Dave Arthur in 1963, and they had two children Jonathan and Tim. They separated in 1977. She married Malcolm Hay in 1996. Her younger son Tim was formerly editor-in-chief and CEO of '' Time Out'' and is currently a radio presenter on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

. In 2000, Toni Arthur appeared on a programme called ''Mystic Challenge'', and spoke about her relationship with Buddhism. "I started reading about Buddhism, and found that that philosophy of knowing yourself before you know others, suited me, and I have been a Buddhist ever since."

References

External links

Toni Arthur biographyLife after Big Ted
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Toni 1941 births Living people BBC television presenters BBC Radio 4 presenters British children's television presenters English women singers English folk singers English television presenters English theatre directors People educated at Mary Datchelor School People from Oxford Transatlantic Records artists British women television presenters Topic Records artists