Norman Frederick Hetherington (29 May 1921 – 6 December 2010) was an Australian artist, cartoonist (known as "Heth"), puppeteer, and puppet designer.
He is best remembered as the creator of one of Australia's longest running children's shows, Mr. Squiggle. Hetherington was the sole operator and voice of its star performer, the Mr. Squiggle marionette.
Family He was the son of Frederick Hetherington (1883–1951) and Ellen Mary Hetherington (1888–1976) (née Markwell). They were married at Balmain, New South Wales in 1918, and Norman Frederick Hetherington was born on 29 May 1921 in Lilyfield.
He grew up at 35 Meryla Street, Burwood. He did his primary schooling at Burwood Public School (1927–1933), and secondary schooling at Sydney's Fort Street Boys' High School (1934–1937). He studied art, full-time, at East Sydney Technical College (now known as the National Art School), from 1937 to 1938; and, because he had taken a position with one of Sydney's largest advertising agencies, Lintas (Lever International Advertising), he transferred to part-time studies, studying at night from 1939 to 1941 (when he enlisted in the army).
He married Margaret "Peggy" Owrid (née Purnell) (1923-2022) in 1958.Registration number 15474/1958.She had married Alfred Donald Owrid (1924-2013), in Sydney, in 1949 (reg.no.21715/1949), and they were divorced on 11 February 1954: Today's Courts: Divorce: Mr. Justice Brereton: "M. Owrid v. A.D. Owrid", Daily Telegraph 11 February 1953 page 20Homing in Fishing Smack, The Herald, (Thursday, 8 May 1952), p.5; Fishing Boat for Australia, The Adelaide News, (Tuesday, 13 May 1952), p.5; Berkeley, Elaine, "Girl Sails Home in Fishing Smack", The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, Sunday, 25 May 1952), p.39.She graduated from University of Sydney with a Diploma of Social Studies in 1955 (see The University of Sydney Calendar Supplement for the Year 1955-6, Sydney: The University of Sydney, 1956, p.761; see also pp.281, 282, 356).Richard Bradshaw (2023), "Remembering Margaret (Peggy) Hetherington (1923-2022)", Unima Australia, ^ February 2023. She would later write scripts for episodes of Mr. Squiggle. They moved to the Sydney suburb of Mosman in 1960, and Hetherington remained there until his death.Mr. Squiggle: Who's Pulling the Strings? , Mosman Festival, 3 September 2005.
The couple's children are Stephen (b.1959), an academic philosopher,Professor Stephen Hetherington, School of Humanities and Languages, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales. Stephen, at the age of 10, assisting his father.Stephen Hetherington: Emeritus Professor of Philosophy. and Rebecca (b.1962), a television presenterid=_q5WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nOgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2530%2C6378109 MacPherson, D., "Antenna to rival Simon Townsend", The Guide, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 12 March 1984), p.6.; Bone, P., Something New for the Young The Green Guide, The Age 3 September 1987 page 7 who also hosted Mr. Squiggle & Friends from 1989 until 1999.
War service He joined the CMF in 1941 and enlisted in the AIF in 1942. He was then transferred to the 2nd Division Concert Party – later called no. 4 Detachment, 1st Australian Army Entertainment Unit when his lightning sketch and performing abilities were recognised.
He service with the First Australian Army Entertainment Unit during World War II,World War II Nominal Roll: Corporal Norman Frederick Hetherington (NX131018/N205247), Department of Veterans' Affairs.Hunter (2019). took him to Dutch New Guinea, New Guinea, New Britain, and the Torres Strait Islands.Transcript of interview with Brendan Trembath, "The World Today: ABC Local Radio", Thursday, 1 September, 2005.Heth, "2nd Div. Entertainment Unit", collection of the Australian War Memorial. The Entertainment Unit also included actor Michael Pate, and comedian George Wallace Jr.
Cartoonist He had attended classes at the National Art School before the war; and once the war was over, he continued his studies attending classes there four nights a week.McDonald, J., "Drawn from the ranks", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 2 August 2008).
When he was only 16, and still a student at Fort Street Boys' High School, Hetherington sold his first cartoon to The Bulletin magazine. He continued to contribute to The Bulletin over the next few years and continued to do so whilst he was in the army.Hetherington, N., "My Bulletin Days", 1946-1961, Biblionews and Australian Notes & Queries, No. 360, (December 2008), pp.143-147.
As a freelance cartoonist he also sold work to magazines that included Man, Man Junior, Army, Humour and Quiz: "His modus operandi was to approach the best-paying magazine first and continue on until he got down to the worst paying with whatever was left of his work".Foyle (2010)
He was discharged from the army in May 1946, and was immediately asked to join the full-time Bulletin staff; he continued to work for The Bulletin until 1961 (when all of the staff were sacked by Frank Packer, its new owner). He worked alongside such artists as Norman Lindsay and Percy Lindsay.
Signature
Early in his career, he signed his cartoons and caricatures with "Heth" and the last two digits of the year: a signature of, say, "Heth 42" (see advertisement at right) identifies Hetherington as the artist of the work, and 1942 as the year in which it had been drawn.For example, he signed his 1946 self-portrait as "Heth 46" (see ).
In the late 1940s, he changed his manner of signing his cartoons; it was no longer written horizontally, and it no longer displayed the year's last two digits. Whilst the signature "Heth" was still exclusively written in capital letters; it now took the form of "HETH", rather than "HETH". The letters were now rotated sideways, and the signature was written vertically running down the page from the top-left to the bottom-right (see left); and was read with one's head tilted to the right.
Many of those who were not aware of this imagined he was signing his work with (non-rotated) imitations of a number of Chinese characters, traditionally written vertically, that needed to be read with one's head tilted to the left.Foyle and Carman (2010) speak of the signature appearing to have been "written in a Chinese-like jumble"; and, given that the following genuine Chinese characters – 大, 土, 士, 壳, 正, 走, 天, and 因 – can be found within his signature, this impression was widespread.
Puppetry
Popular Science Monthly His interest in marionettes began in 1935 when his father, who was the head carpenter for a major shipping line, gave him a copy of an American magazine called Popular Science Monthly, which contained instructions for making a puppet out of used bicycle inner tubes.This was an article by Florence Fetherston Drake, on how to make marionettes from old inner tubes, that commenced on page 58 of Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 127, No. 3, (September 1935) THE BALLARD INSTITUTE AND MUSEUM OF PUPPETRY: Practical Marionettes Made From Old Inner Tubes. Later articles (which, along with that first article, were eventually accumulated into the booklet How to Make Your Own Marionettes () were: Drake, F.F., "Its Great Fun to Give a Circus at Home With These Comical Animal Puppets", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 127, No. 6, (December 1935), pp.67, 92-93; Drake, F.F., "Puppet Heads Modeled from Newspaper Pulp", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 1, (January 1936), pp.57, 90-91; Drake, F.F., "Marionette Bodies", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 2, (February 1936), pp.65, 109-111; Drake, F.F., "Constructing Simple Marionette Stages", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 3, (March 1936), pp.64-65, 105; Drake, F.F., "Stage Sets and Scenery for Marionette Shows", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 4, (April 1936), pp.71, 106-108; Drake, F.F., "Properties for Marionette Shows", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 5, (May 1936), pp.70-71, 103-105; Drake, F.F., "Lighting the Miniature Stage", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 129, No. 1, (July 1936), pp.67, 91-92; and Drake, F.F., "Trick Marionettes Will Enliven Your Puppet Shows", Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 129, No. 5, (November 1936), pp.72-73, 83-105.
He first made this Clown puppet and used it in a 1950 Methodist Order of Knights production of 'The Reluctant Dragon', one of the many productions which he devised, wrote and designed for the Burwood Chapter of which he was a member.
He went on to use this Clown puppet which he called 'Tipsy' in his early professional puppet shows including his marionette version of 'The Reluctant Dragon at the Mercury Theatre in the St James Hall in Phillip St, Sydney in 1953.
He went on to develop a repertoire of puppet shows which he performed around Sydney including 'The Enchanted Scarecrow' and 'The Magic Tinderbox'.
Even in these first shows, critics were remarking on the "wit, whimsy, and lively inventiveness" of his performance with his marionettes, and were very impressed with the skill and craftsmanship with which his puppets had been created.L.B., "Puppets at the Mercury", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 22 June 1953), p.4.
In a 1977 interview,Molloy, (1977). Hetherington explained to Sue Molloy that his interest in marionettes "was the outcome of a professional interest in cartoons, and amateur interest in theatre and a hobby of puppets", remarking that, in his view, "puppets are only three-dimensional cartoons".
Clovelly Puppet Theatre In 1952 he gained a little early experience working with marionettes under the direction of Edith Constance Murray (née Blackwell) (1897–1988),Design and Art Australia Online Biography: Edith Constance Murray at the Clovelly Puppet Theatre, administered by the Children's Library and Crafts Movement which later became the Creative Leisure Movement.For more on Doris Mary Matheson, née Rivett (1896-1969) and Elsie Grace Rivett (1887-1964), see Godden, G., "Rivett, Doris Mary (1896–1969)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1988. The puppet theatre was in a former army hut donated by Randwick Council and erected by local volunteers in 1948. Describing it as "a nurturing ground", Hetherington said that this was where and when his puppetry changed from being just a hobby into a lifelong interest.Molloy, (1977); Bradshaw, (December 2010). Milne, G., Theatre Australia (Un)Limited: Australian Theatre Since the 1950s, Rodopi, (Amsterdam), 2004.Children Cheer Puppet Heroes, The (Sydney) Sunday Herald, (Sunday, 29 May 1949), p.5.;Young People's Theatre Opens, The (Sydney) Sunday Herald Playtime, (Sunday, 19 June 1949), p.1.; Square Dancing, The (Sydney) Sunday Herald Playtime, (Sunday, 22 October 1950), p.1.;Henderson, B., "A Theatre That Pays For Itself", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 14 August 1954), p.13.Film-maker in puppet show, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Friday, 2 May 1969), p.12.
At that time he joined the Puppetry Guild of NSW, of which Edith Murray was secretary for many years. The Guild usually met then in the Library and Crafts Movement's centre in Rochford Street, Erskineville, and in 1953 Norman impressed members with excellent marionettes of a contortionist and a dissecting skeleton.
In 1954 he did a marionette production of “The Magic Tinderbox” in which he made use of a technique used in a nineteenth century trick puppet, “The Grand Turk”, to transform the King; his legs became frogs, his arms owls and his body became a fat purple pig. The famous English glove-puppeteer and author, Walter Wilkinson (1888-1970) was guest at a performance in the puppet theatre at the Movement's centre at Bradfield Park, now East Lindfield.
When the Australian section of UNIMA (the international association of puppeteers) was formed in 1970, following groundwork done by Edith Murray, Hetherington was the obvious choice for President, while Murray was Secretary. Hetherington also went on to be President of UNIMA Australia (Union Internationale de la Marionnette, of the International Puppetry Association) for many years.