Ventriloquist Terry Hall, whose loveable Lenny the Lion character became one of the first ventriloquial stars of stage and television in the fifties and sixties, died on April 4 at the age of 80, after a long illness.
Born in Oldham on November 20, 1926, Hall was 15 when he won a talent contest, and became a full-time ventriloquist with the Carroll Levis Discoveries.
It was in 1954 that Hall created Britain’s most loveable lion - Lenny the Lion - out of some old fox fur, papier mache and a golf ball for a nose, during a Blackpool summer season. He gave Lenny a gentle, lisping voice and when they starred in the Lenny the Lion Show on TV, he created the memorable catchphrase “Aw, don’t embawass me”.
Lenny’s falsetto, lisping voice made him a favourite with generations of children and established Hall as one of Britain’s top ventriloquists.
Hall worked in theatres all over the country with his Lenny the Lion stage show, as well as starring in many summer seasons and pantomimes. In addition to his own TV and radio series, he appeared as a guest in many top TV shows over some 50 years.
However, in more recent times, Hall carved a second career as an educational writer. His teaching books on reading became part of the educational system and Reading with Lenny was taken up by Granada TV’s educational department.
He lived in Coventry and leaves behind his wife Dee, daughters Beverley and Melanie, and stepchildren Tracey and Nigel.
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