Harry Corbett

Who was Harry Corbett?

Harry Corbett OBE was an English puppeteer who created the 'Sooty' glove puppet character in 1948.

Corbett was born in Bradford to James W. Corbett, a coal miner, and his wife Florence, née Ramsden.

Deafness in one ear precluded Corbett from pursuing his musical ambitions although he played the piano in the Guiseley fish and chip restaurant owned by his mother's brother Harry Ramsden. His parents had a fish and chip business in Guiseley called Springfields, which remains open.

In order to entertain his children while on holiday in Blackpool in 1948, he bought the original yellow bear glove puppet, then called Teddy, in a novelty shop on the end of the resort's North Pier for seven shillings and six pence. Later he used soot to blacken its ears and nose, hence the name "Sooty".

His first appearance with the silent Sooty was in a 1952 BBC TV show, Talent Night. He was given a part in Peter Butterworth's TV show Saturday Special. He soon had his own show and was a regular favourite throughout the 1950s and '60s. His show combined simple magic tricks with slapstick comedy in which Sooty usually poured liquid over or attacked Corbett.