The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Paddington Bear creator touched hearts
Paddington star Hugh Bonneville has paid tribute to Michael Bond, saying it was “poignant” to learn of the much-loved author’s death on the final day of shooting the new movie.
The Paddington Bear creator died at home aged 91 on Tuesday, following a short illness, his publisher HarperCollins said.
Bonneville, who plays Henry Brown in the two Paddington movies, said: “Michael will be greatly missed by his legions of fans and especially by his wife, Sue, his family and, of course, by his beloved guinea pigs. He leaves a special legacy: long live the bear from darkest Peru.”
The writer became a beloved giant of children’s literature after his first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was published in 1958 about the bear from Peru who loves marmalade.
He came up with the idea for the small bear from Peru in 1956 while working as a BBC TV cameraman.
Ann-Janine Murtagh, of HarperCollins Children’s Books, said: “He was a gentleman, and a bon viveur. He will be forever remembered for Paddington, with his duffle coat and wellington boots, which touched my own heart as a child and will live on in the hearts of future generations.”
Bond also wrote a children’s TV series called The Herbs, books about a guinea pig called Olga da Polga – inspired by his own pet – and a string of novels for adults about a French detective called Monsieur Pamplemousse. He also wrote various other titles including a guide to Paris.
In 2014, Bond recalled how he had, on Christmas Eve, found himself on Oxford Street looking for a small gift for his wife’s Christmas stocking.
Snow had started to fall and he found himself outside Selfridges.
“There was this one bear sitting on the shelf and I felt sorry for him,” he recalled. “Someone once said ‘A doll’s always wondering what they’re going to wear next, but you feel you can tell a bear your secrets and it won’t give them away’.”
The bear in question turned out to be the toy that inspired him to write A Bear Called Paddington. Bond gave the film, which also starred Nicole Kidman, his blessing as, while the bear has appeared on stage and TV over the years, a movie was “the one thing Paddington hadn’t done”.
“You feel you can tell a bear your secrets and it won’t give them away”