Orville the Duck

Who is Orville the Duck?

Orville the Duck is the puppet of ventriloquist Keith Harris and was named after Orville Wright. Orville is a green duckling who wears nothing but a nappy with a large safety pin on the front. He speaks with a falsetto voice.

Orville appeared on BBC television from 1982 to 1990 on The Keith Harris Show, which featured assorted puppets such as Orville the Duck and Cuddles the Monkey. At the peak of their popularity in December 1982, Harris and Orville released the single "Orville's Song", reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1983 and selling over 400,000 copies in total.

After The Keith Harris Show's close in 1990, Harris took up work for Butlins holiday resorts.

In 2004, Harris provided Orville's personality in an advert for Surf washing powder. Harris, in an attempt to broaden the horizons of his original stage show, has also toured with a more adult offering entitled Duck Off.

Orville and Harris had a short appearance on the sketch comedy series Little Britain as themselves in of a group of entertainers waiting to meet the royal family. In another episode, Orville was portrayed as an out-of-work actor shopping at a supermarket, played by Matt Lucas, dressed as an oversized version of Orville, and had a regularly pitched voice. Harris and Orville have also made an appearance on Channel Four's Banzai.