Rod Hull and His Naughty Emu

August 13 was the birthday British puppeteer and comedian Rod Hull (1935-1999).

Hull and his obnoxious Emu puppet tried their luck in the States from time to time, so I have vague childhood memories of seeing him in performance on such programs as The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show,The Sonny Comedy Hour, The Mike Douglas Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,and Comic Relief. In fact, it’s more than likely that this performance was the agency whereby I even learned what an Emu was.

Hull began performing with the Emu puppet (I’m capitalizing because it was the character’s name as well as its species) on children’s television shows in Australia circa 1970. He claimed to have created the puppet on his own; Channel 9 in Sydney claims the puppet was theirs prior to Hull’s discovery of it in an old closet. Me personally, I’m agnostic on the topic of this hot button issue. At any rate, the success of the character inspired Hull to return to his home country of Britain, where appearances on variety television led to his own kids tv series’ and specials. He played The Royal Variety Performance, It’s Lulu, The Val Doonican Show, and The Good Old Days, among others. His own shows included: EBC1: Emu’s Broadcasting Company (1975-80), Emu’s World (1982-84), Emu’s All Live Pink Windmill Show (1984-86), Emu’s Wide World (1987-88), E.M.U. TV (1989), and Rod ‘n’ Emu (1991), as well as numerous holiday specials. In the ’90s he continued to make TV guest appearances, while performing live at holiday pantos, and such-like.

The whole gag with the Emu was that it would attack people and that Hull couldn’t control it. This kind of thing can be funny in small to moderate doses, especially when it is happening to OTHER people. Clearly kids are the best audience for such fol-de-rol, which is why he managed to work in children’s television so long. Many of the full-grown entertainers were irritated and even put out by working with Hull, however. Plenty of people don’t want to be physically messed with, even when it’s “all in good fun”. A couple of people have claimed Hull was guilty of sexual improprieties, basically copping feels by grabbing ladies’ fleshly bits with the Emu beak. It would be difficult to demonstrate that such liberties were actually by design or just a logical outcome of the puppet grabbing everyone everywhere, which is what he seemed to be doing. But it makes a great story. And, after all, he was also on Jim’ll Fix It a couple of times. Whatever the case, it was the kind of act that seems to make Brits roll their eyes, much as Yanks do at the mention of Gallagher’s watermelons, or the very existence of Carrot Top. A one-joke celeb who seems to show up everywhere and somehow manages to do so for decades.

Hull’s death was simultaneously horrible and hilarious — like something out of a Laurel and Hardy movie. An inveterate football fan, he was up on the roof adjusting the aerial one day during a match, and….

I know it’s not funny, or shouldn’t be funny, but I can’t help picturing the Emu puppet on his hand, wickedly relishing having pushed Hull over the edge.

And clearly, the Emu does have a life independent of his creator. In 2003, Rod’s son Toby Hull brought the character out of retirement in a holiday panto, and later performed with him on a tv series in 2007. 2003 also saw the release of a television documentary Rod Hull: A Bird in the Hand.

For more on show biz history consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.