Ronnie Le Drew
Encyclopedia
Ronnie Le Drew is a puppeteer who was born in Toronto
, Canada
and trained at the Little Angel Theatre
, London
under John Wright. His association With the Little Angel spans over thirty years as performer, and later as director. Other theatre credits have included Ala-al-din (Clifford Heap Miniature Theatre UK Tour) Through Wooden Eyes (Hogarth Puppets UK Tour) Hans the Bell Ringer (Oxford Play House and Civic Theatre Darlington.) Angelo (Purcell Room
, London
) Soldiers Tale, The Box of Toys, Amahl and the Night Visitors
, Genevieve De Brabant, Reynard the Fox. (Queen Elizabeth Hall
, London
and Norwich Puppet Theatre
.) Cinderella
, Frog Prince
, Peter and the Wolf
, Pinocchio
, (Midlands
Arts Centre, Birmingham
.) and Polynesia in Doctor Dolittle
UK
Tour Scottish Arts Council Funded Tours, and visits to America
, Israel
, Denmark
, France
, Belgium
and Czechoslovakia
followed.
- narrated by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
) The Little Mermaid (Associated Re-diffusion) Late Night line up (BBC) Mak the Sheep stealer (ATV) Michael Bentine's Potty Time, The [Tommy Cooper] Show both for Thames Television
.Play Days (BBC) Mortimer and Arabel (BBC), Utterly Brilliant with Timmy Mallett
(YTV), Good Morning with Anne and Nick (BBC
), Jays World (Meridian), Roger and the Rotten Trolls. (ITV). Bills New Frock (Channel 4
) Ronnie was fortunate to appear with Harry Corbett
, Matthew Corbett
and also with Richard Cadell On the Sooty
Show (Thames Television
), and also Sooty
Heights (Granada), mainly as Sweep
, occasionally as Sooty and once as Scampi.
However he is probably best known as "Zippy" from ITV's Rainbow and later Rainbow Days. As Zippy, Ronnie has appeared On The Jim Davidson
Show (Thames), The Generation Game
(BBC), Five (TV)'s Night Fever, The Jonathan Ross
Show (Channel 4
), The World of Puppets (BBC), The Greatest 100 Kids TV Shows (Channel 4), Ashes to Ashes
(BBC), as well as appearances at the Fridge, The Hammersmith Pallais, as well numerous Universities, Night Clubs, and Discos, all over Great Britain with the Rainbow Disco Road Show and Rainbow's Play Your Cards Right.
appearances include, The Naked Runner which starred Frank Sinatra
, A Dandy in Aspic, Labyrinth (film)
, Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island
, and Little Shop of Horrors
.
! In 2008 he operated the dancing "Brains from Thunderbirds" puppet in the advert for Drench water.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and trained at the Little Angel Theatre
Little Angel Theatre
The Little Angel Theatre is a puppet theatre catering for children, families and adults, off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington.The 100 seat theatre, in a former Temperance hall, was opened on 24 November 1961, by founder John Wright...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
under John Wright. His association With the Little Angel spans over thirty years as performer, and later as director. Other theatre credits have included Ala-al-din (Clifford Heap Miniature Theatre UK Tour) Through Wooden Eyes (Hogarth Puppets UK Tour) Hans the Bell Ringer (Oxford Play House and Civic Theatre Darlington.) Angelo (Purcell Room
Purcell Room
The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) Soldiers Tale, The Box of Toys, Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
, Genevieve De Brabant, Reynard the Fox. (Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Norwich Puppet Theatre
Norwich Puppet Theatre
The Norwich Puppet Theatre is a nationally unique venue dedicated to puppetry housed in the Medieval church of Saint James a Grade 1 listed building, in the city of Norwich, England....
.) Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
, Frog Prince
Frog Prince
The Frog Prince is a 1971 special directed by Jim Henson. It is a retelling of the classic fairy tale of The Frog Prince featuring Kermit the Frog as the narrator, Kermit's nephew Robin as the Frog Prince, Sir Robin, and Sweetums, among others...
, Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
, Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
, (Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
Arts Centre, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
.) and Polynesia in Doctor Dolittle
Doctor Dolittle
Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 The Story of Doctor Dolittle. He is a doctor who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in their own languages...
UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Tour Scottish Arts Council Funded Tours, and visits to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
followed.
Television
His numerous television credits began in 1964 with A Touch of Don Juan (BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
- narrated by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.-Early life:...
) The Little Mermaid (Associated Re-diffusion) Late Night line up (BBC) Mak the Sheep stealer (ATV) Michael Bentine's Potty Time, The [Tommy Cooper] Show both for Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
.Play Days (BBC) Mortimer and Arabel (BBC), Utterly Brilliant with Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett is a TV presenter and broadcaster in the UK. He achieved cult status on BBC Radio Oxford and Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and later on TV-am...
(YTV), Good Morning with Anne and Nick (BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
), Jays World (Meridian), Roger and the Rotten Trolls. (ITV). Bills New Frock (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
) Ronnie was fortunate to appear with Harry Corbett
Harry Corbett
Harry Corbett OBE was a British puppeteer, known as the creator in 1948 of the long running 'Sooty' glove puppet character.He was born in Bradford to coal miner James W...
, Matthew Corbett
Matthew Corbett
Matthew Corbett is an English television personality best known for The Sooty Show and laterly Sooty and Co. He is the son of Harry Corbett...
and also with Richard Cadell On the Sooty
Sooty
Sooty is a British glove puppet bear and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The children's television show which bears his name has continued in various forms since the 1950s and, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the...
Show (Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
), and also Sooty
Sooty
Sooty is a British glove puppet bear and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The children's television show which bears his name has continued in various forms since the 1950s and, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the...
Heights (Granada), mainly as Sweep
Sweep
-Cleaning :* Chimney sweep* Street sweeper* Swept quartz, a cleaning of quartz crystal from alkali metal ions-Sports: * Sweep * Sweep , winning a five game series 3 games to none, or winning a seven game series 4 games to none; typically fans bring brooms to ballparks or ball courts in the final...
, occasionally as Sooty and once as Scampi.
However he is probably best known as "Zippy" from ITV's Rainbow and later Rainbow Days. As Zippy, Ronnie has appeared On The Jim Davidson
Jim Davidson (comedian)
Jim Davidson OBE is a British comedian, actor and television presenter. He has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment, particularly of British service personnel in conflict zones.- Biography :The son of a Glaswegian father, Davidson was born in...
Show (Thames), The Generation Game
The Generation Game
The Generation Game was a British gameshow produced by the BBC in which four teams of two competed to win prizes...
(BBC), Five (TV)'s Night Fever, The Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross (television presenter)
Jonathan Stephen Ross, OBE is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 2001 until he left the BBC in 2010. Ross began hosting a new chat show on ITV1 starting 3 September 2011...
Show (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
), The World of Puppets (BBC), The Greatest 100 Kids TV Shows (Channel 4), Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (TV series)
Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
(BBC), as well as appearances at the Fridge, The Hammersmith Pallais, as well numerous Universities, Night Clubs, and Discos, all over Great Britain with the Rainbow Disco Road Show and Rainbow's Play Your Cards Right.
Film
FilmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
appearances include, The Naked Runner which starred Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, A Dandy in Aspic, Labyrinth (film)
Labyrinth (film)
Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
, Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island
Muppet Treasure Island
Muppet Treasure Island is a 1996 American musical film based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. It is the fifth feature film to star The Muppets and was directed by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson....
, and Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)
Little Shop of Horrors is a 1986 American comedy musical film adaptation of the off-Broadway musical comedy of the same name by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a nerdy florist shop worker who raises a vicious plant that feeds on human blood...
.
Commercials
Commercials include Roundtree's Jelly Tots, Harvest Crunch, American Yellow Page's, London Docklands Crows and even one for a Swedish Toilet Roll. The most enjoyable would be for the Ideal Home Exhibition in the seventies, where he operated the original Bill and Ben The Flower Pot MenFlower Pot Men
The Flower Pot Men were a British pop group created in 1967 as a result of the single "Let's Go to San Francisco", recorded by session musicians, becoming a major UK Top 20 and Continental Europe hit) in the autumn of 1967...
! In 2008 he operated the dancing "Brains from Thunderbirds" puppet in the advert for Drench water.