Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Tony Hart
Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009) was an English artist 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 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 badges, and the animated character of Morph, who appeared beside him on his programmes following his introduction in the 1970s.
Tony Hart was born in Hastings Road, Maidstone in Kent. He was interested in drawing from an early age. He attended All Saints, Margaret Street Resident Choir School and then Clayesmore School in Iwerne Minster, Dorset, where art was his best subject.
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 1st Gurkha Rifles, serving from 1943 to 1947. His military career was cut short, however, when he was told that lower-ranked British officers would be replaced by Indian officers following Indian independence, so he decided to return to civilian life.[failed verification] The outbreak of the Korean War (25 June 1950) saw him being re-commissioned in the Territorial Army, attached to the Royal Artillery, from 23 November 1948 to 1 July 1950.
After being demobilised, Hart decided to become a professional artist and studied at Maidstone College of Art, 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.
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. Subsequent television shows included 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). From the 1970s, he often appeared alongside the animated Plasticine stop-motion 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. 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'.
Hub AI
Tony Hart AI simulator
(@Tony Hart_simulator)
Tony Hart
Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009) was an English artist 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 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 badges, and the animated character of Morph, who appeared beside him on his programmes following his introduction in the 1970s.
Tony Hart was born in Hastings Road, Maidstone in Kent. He was interested in drawing from an early age. He attended All Saints, Margaret Street Resident Choir School and then Clayesmore School in Iwerne Minster, Dorset, where art was his best subject.
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 1st Gurkha Rifles, serving from 1943 to 1947. His military career was cut short, however, when he was told that lower-ranked British officers would be replaced by Indian officers following Indian independence, so he decided to return to civilian life.[failed verification] The outbreak of the Korean War (25 June 1950) saw him being re-commissioned in the Territorial Army, attached to the Royal Artillery, from 23 November 1948 to 1 July 1950.
After being demobilised, Hart decided to become a professional artist and studied at Maidstone College of Art, 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.
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. Subsequent television shows included 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). From the 1970s, he often appeared alongside the animated Plasticine stop-motion 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. 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'.