Mr. Pastry

Children's TV comedy was in its infancy in the early fifties, but actor-acrobat-dancer Richard Hearne's madcap, bowler-hatted creation Mr. Pastry complete with walrus moustache and flapping coat-tails forwarded the cause wonderfully. Mr. Pastry's usual introductory music was "Pop Goes the Weasel".

Richard Hearne was resident clown at the BBC for thirty years . He was born in Norwich in 1908 into a theatrical family. His father was an acrobat and his mother a dramatic actress; he made his stage debut in her arms at the age of six weeks. As a youth he appeared in circus and later went on tour developing his 'dumb' act, with its visual humour giving pleasure to all nationalities.

Hearne appeared at Alexandra Palace on the Baird system in 1936. He performed such acts as 'Take Two Eggs' (a cookery demonstration), 'Shifting the Piano' and 'The Handy Man'. The character of Mr. Pastry came from a stage show, that he and Fred Emney were in, called Big Boy, and was developed by Hearne as the bungling, optimistic clown. He was to star in many children's and adults' 'refined slapstick' sketches on stage, TV and film.

He copied one sketch from a comic called Tom D. Newall, with his widow's permission. This became the performance by which many remember him - it was called 'The Lancers'. In the sketch Mr. Pastry charged through a ballroom while dancing with imaginary partners with whom he was completely out of step. His act earned him an accolade from Ed Sullivan, whose show he appeared on in the USA in 1954 and repeat bookings followed for many years..

"Richard Hearne is buried in the churchyard in the village of St Mary's Platt near Borough Green in Kent where he lived for many years. His grave is overgrown and totally neglected. It's really very sad.

Richard Hearne's grave - The inscription reads: RICHARD HEARNE OBE; MR. PASTRY; 1908 - 1979

I managed to find out a few things locally. RH lived in the village in the late 40's, 50's and 60's. He lived in a wonderful old house, Platt Farm, which is in Long Mill Lane, nearly opposite where I live. He had a theatre in his grounds in a barn which featured regularly on TV. The barn has now been converted to a house.

Watch "Richard Hearne at Home" video clip from ITN British Pathe Archive

He drove a Rolls Royce. and he regularly provided a celebrity for opening the local fete e.g. Ian Carmichael, Dulcie Gray, Fred Emney etc. He was President of the local dramatic society in which his wife, Yvonne, and daughters Cetra and Sarah were active members. I understand that his wife is still alive, lives in Maidstone and still plays the piano at charity do's. Richard Hearne was very active in his charity, raising money for therapy pools for spastic homes. He raised millions of pounds (in current day terms) and was awarded an OBE for his work.

Incidentally, he also appeared in at least one film with Buster Keaton and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show".

(Information above is from Dick Searle, long term resident of the same village, who has recently had the grave tidied up as can be seen from the above picture).

Wendy Bundy remembers: "I thought that my memories might add to the archive of Mr. Pastry. I can remember the children's television series in which he starred in the 1950s. The shop was based on the interior of the village shop in Offham near St Mary's Platt (now a house and the interior was recreated in the BBC studio. The proprietors at the time were Ian and Daphne Napier who were friends of my parents. As they had no children of their own my brother and I were the lucky recipients of an invitation to go to the studio to watch the filming of an episode and meet Mr Pastry. I have memories of an overwhelming personality that was very kind to us"

Richard Turner Remembers: "Hello, I've just listened to a radio documentary about Richard Hearne, and it brought a childhood memory from the early sixties when I and a crowd of other children were ushered into a council hall in Dartford for an appearance of Mr Pastry.
I suppose he must have been in his fifties by then, though of course I fell for it and thought he was ancient. He chatted and entertained us for a bit, then after a build-up, performed his party piece, which was to dive head first through a closed serving hatch. It sounds simple enough, but afterwards at home, I squared up to our own serving hatch and tried to psyche myself into having a go. Thank goodness I didn't. The bit I couldn't work out was how not to land flat on my face. If you ever find yourself near a serving hatch, square up to it and dare yourself. You'll realise immediately what an impressive feat it was.
I only mention it because I always thought it was his "signature move", yet there was no mention of it in the documentary, nor can I find a clip of him doing it on YouTube, though there's plenty else to see. No doubt it was just part of his prodigious repertoire"