Rod Hull
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Image:Hullemupromo.jpgRod Hull (August 13 1935–March 18 1999) was a popular children's entertainer on British television in the 1970s and 1980s. He rarely appeared without Emu, a mute, highly aggressive arm-length puppet of such a bird. He died in 1999 after a tragic fall from the roof of his house.
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Background
Hull was born in Kent in 1935. He spent his early career in Australia, where he worked on a children's breakfast TV programme and first used Emu as a puppet. Emu became a regular part of Hull's set on cabarets back in the United Kingdom and Australia. Soon after, his Australian success translated to his native country with Hull appearing on several children's and adult light entertainment shows.
Emu
Hull's puppet represented a side of his personality that enabled the entertainer to create a kind of gleeful havoc, while seemingly being not to blame for it. This was aided by the simple yet effective conceit of a false arm attached to Hull's jacket, which cradled the emu, therefore making it appear that the neck and head moved of its own volition.
Image:Parkyemu.jpg It was during the 1970s that Hull and the uncontrollable Emu made their most famous appearances. The bird repeatedly attacked Michael Parkinson during an edition of his eponymous chat show, eventually causing the interviewer to fall off his chair. Fellow guest Billy Connolly threatened, "If that bird comes anywhere near me, I'll break its neck and your bloody arm!". Perhaps mindful of his professional future, Hull swiftly got his "pet" back on best behaviour. In later years, Parkinson always lamented the fact that despite all the star guests he had interviewed during his career, he would always be remembered for "that bloody bird".
There were no apparent boundaries for Emu's outrageous behaviour. In 1972, it ate the Queen's bouquet of flowers at a Royal Variety Performance. However, Hull was careful to tailor the bird's conduct according to his audience, and always ensured that it displayed a friendly demeanour when in the company of children.
Thanks to his anarchic puppet, during the 1980s, Hull was a multi-millionaire and enjoyed huge success with Emu's World and Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show. The record viewership for his main show, Emu's Broadcasting Company, was 11 million. However, he later suffered financial difficulties and was declared bankrupt in 1994.
Later life
Hull was in the public eye less frequently during the 1990s, appearing in pantomime and television commercials, and winning the 1993 "Pipe Smoker of the Year" award. Nonetheless, his name remained well-known, and comedians Richard Herring and Stewart Lee included a "Rod Hull" character in their 1996 television sketch show, Fist of Fun, played by the actor Kevin Eldon. This character was performed as a grotesque imitation, a character who was finally unmasked by the real Rod Hull, who appeared (minus Emu) in the last episode of the series. It was to be Hull's penultimate television appearance.
Death
Hull died in 1999, at the age of 63, after falling from the roof of his house, while trying to fix his television aerial. He had been watching a Manchester United football match with his son when the picture lost quality. Lee and Herring had planned to revive their "Rod Hull" character for their contemporary series, This Morning with Richard Not Judy, but despite filming several sketches — in which the character would himself die after performing a pointless stunt — the footage was disposed of. [1]
Upon Hull's death, Michael Parkinson reminisced that he had found him to be "a very charming, intelligent and sensitive man — quite unlike the Emu." He observed that the puppet "was the dark side of Rod's personality, and very funny, provided it was not on top of you."
Hull married twice and had five children. His son Toby brought Emu out of retirement for the first time since his father's death during the 2003 pantomime season, appearing in Cinderella at Windsor's Theatre Royal.