First wife Paddington creator never forgot
Michael and Brenda Bond shared custody of the toy bear that inspired his bestselling books after they divorced 37 years ago and this week it emerged he remembered her in his will
HE WAS just a scruffy little bear in a floppy hat, bought on a whim one snowy Christmas Eve in 1956. But 62 years later it has emerged that it was that impulsive purchase – originally intended as a stockingfiller for first wife Brenda – which went on to make Paddington Bear author Michael Bond a £9.2 million fortune.
And as details of his will revealed this week show, he acknowledged that by leaving a legacy to Brenda. The couple divorced in 1981 after 31 years together but, by including her in his will, Bond has paid tribute to her part in the creation of one of the country’s most loved and successful literary creations.
Despite her part in the Paddington Bear story, however, Brenda has always remained in the background and guarded her privacy.
More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold around the world since 1958’s A Bear Called Paddington and they have been translated into 40 languages. An animated feature film made in 2014, called, simply, Paddington, became one of the most successful British box office hits. The sequel, showing in cinemas now, has also drawn praise from the critics, as well as receiving two Bafta nominations including best British film.
But without Brenda there may have been no Paddington at all. In 1956 Michael Bond was a BBC cameraman working on shows including Dixon Of Dock Green and Blue Peter – but the 30-year-old also harboured ambitions of making it as a writer. He had sold his first short story while stationed with the Army in Cairo during the war but other than a few (largely unnoticed) plays, had had little success since.
He had also married Brenda Johnson and the couple had settled in a oneroom flat near Paddington train station, in west London. He remembered: “You had to move everything in order to go to bed, which was folded into a wall.”
But it was while taking refuge from a snowstorm on Christmas Eve that Michael was to introduce a new member to the household that would eventually change their lives for ever.
“It had started to snow. I went to Selfridges for shelter,” he recalled shortly before his death last June aged 91. “On this shelf there was this one bear. I felt sorry for it, fancy sitting on a shelf all by yourself over Christmas?”
The bear was duly rescued, given to Brenda for Christmas, named Paddington and placed on the mantelpiece. Michael continued to struggle to make it as a writer until one day, stuck for inspiration, his eyes alighted on their bear. “It crossed my mind, what would it be like if a real bear arrived on Paddington station?” he said. “It was the first time I had written for children. But I didn’t have any age in mind. I was writing it for myself.”
Ten days later A Bear Called Paddington was finished. After showing it to his literary agent, who suggested he switch the origin of Paddington to Peru from Africa “because there were no bears on that continent”, publisher William Collins offered him £75 for the book (about £1,600 today) and a whole industry was born.
Paddington was an immediate success and over the years a further 26 books followed, as well as a hit 1970s TV series.
In 1972 the first Paddington stuffed bears appeared. Created by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, who ran a small design business, they were the first to add wellington boots to the bear to stop him falling over. They presented the original design prototype to their son Jeremy, who was 12 at the time but who would grow up to become the main presenter of Top Gear.
And, perhaps more than the bestselling books or the screen adaptations, it was Paddington’s commercial wing that really made Bond’s fortune. There are an estimated 1,000 items of licensed Paddington merchandising available today, from baby duffel coats and pyjamas to teapots and wallpaper. Replica toy bears alone have sold 25 million to date. But even as Michael and Brenda moved out of their cramped flat and into a canal-side house in nearby Maida Vale and had daughter Karen, the original bear remained a central part of the family – so much so that Karen, now 59, later described it as “her brother”.
“If we went out to eat, the small bear would come with us and I’d ask what he thought as he is quite fond of his food,” said Michael in 2014. At a memorial service for her father last year, Karen said: “Paddington is so real that as far as we’re concerned he’s a member of the family.”
MICHAEL and Brenda divorced in 1981 and that year he married Susan Rogers but he and Brenda remained friends – forever bonded by the scruffy bear he had bought her for Christmas. So much so that they even shared custody of the cuddly toy, with Michael once explaining: “We ring each other and say, ‘He feels like coming to you now’.”
As a special trust sets about executing Michael Bond’s will, it seems there’s one special possession in particular that will be staying firmly put with Brenda.
“The original bear is so personal he’s never been shown,” says Karen. “The only people who see him are immediate family members.”