After nearly 50 years Sooty and Sweep will go their
separate ways.

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DON'T PANIC, but the last puppets used by Harry
Corbett will go on sale soon by Bonhams.



Auction will finally split puppet pair

Maev Kennedy
Thursday October 16, 2003
The Guardian

Sooty and Sweep have spent nearly 30 years in a box
together, but are now to be wrenched apart.
The puppets are unique because they were used during
Harry Corbett's last performance, a 1975 BBC Christmas
special.

After the show, as he headed into retirement leaving
his son Matthew to take over, he gave Sooty to the
puppeteer who had operated Sweep the dog.

The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, plans to
auction them at Bonhams next month and reportedly
suggested they should be sold separately so that more
people could bid for them. Not, of course, because
each could fetch up to £12,000, probably more than
they would have fetched as a pair.

Sooty was born in 1948, when Corbett bought a glove
puppet for 7s 6d on Blackpool pier, to spice up his
conjuring act. The bear became the magician and a
superstar, and Corbett his straight man.

Sweep joined in 1957, and Soo, the female panda, in
1964, but the BBC insisted that Sooty and Soo should
never touch on screen.

Sooty packed his little suitcase and moved to Thames
TV, then Granada, and finally became a cartoon
character in 1996.

A Bonhams spokesman said the puppets were in excellent
condition: "There is slight wear to the paws of Sweep,
but there are no holes."

BRIAN

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COMING SOON - TELEVISION NETWORK 2
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