Not a name you’ll know RIP Denise Bryer obituary Actor who voiced children’s TV characters including Noddy, Kiki the frog and the villainous Zelda in Gerry Anderson’s Terrahawks Anthony Hayward Denise Bryer, who has died aged 93, was an actor whose voice, rather than face, was known to several generations of young television viewers. She brought to life animated characters such as Noddy, Kiki the frog in Hector’s House and the villainous Zelda in the producer Gerry Anderson’s sci-fi series Terrahawks. Bryer always said she was happier behind a microphone than in front of a camera. From 1947, she was in scores of plays with BBC radio’s drama company, displaying a special talent for playing old ladies and young boys. It was no surprise when she was picked to voice the title character in The Adventures of Noddy (1955-56), a puppet series – and the first to feature Enid Blyton’s character, taken by the friendly gnome Big Ears to live in Toyland. The “parp-parp” sound of the horn from Noddy’s little car announced his arrival, along with the jingle of the bell on his hat. please log in to view this image The puppet stars Noddy and Big Ears in The Adventures of Noddy, 1955; Bryer voiced the title character. Photograph: Hulton Getty Anderson and the director of photography Arthur Provis were among the owners of Pentagon Films, which then hired Bryer to voice a 1956 Kellogg’s Sugar Ricicles commercial featuring Noddy. When the pair formed AP Films, its first production was the 52-episode marionette series The Adventures of Twizzle (1957-58), created by Roberta Leigh. Bryer was cast as the feline friend of the title character, voiced by Nancy Nevinson. “I’ve got such big paws that I’m always falling over them – that’s why I’m called Footso,” she tells Twizzle, and together they build Stray Town as a haven for other toys. please log in to view this image Denise Bryer celebrating the birthday of her husband, Nicholas Parsons, the broadcaster, in 1968. They were married until 1989. Photograph: John Minihan/Getty Images She was back with Anderson for his western saga Four Feather Falls (1959-60). Her then husband, Nicholas Parsons, played Sheriff Tex Tucker, who had a talking dog and horse, and she voiced several characters – Martha “Ma” Jones, the store owner, Little Jake, the town’s only child, and Makooya, a little boy. Although Bryer never worked on any of Anderson’s hugely popular 1960s puppet series, such as Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90, she was voice-tested for the role of Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds. The role eventually went to Sylvia Anderson, his wife and co-producer, who became the main female voice actor on their productions during that era. Two decades later, by which time Gerry and Sylvia had divorced, Bryer returned to the Anderson fold in Terrahawks (1983-86) to voice the shrieking, witch-like Zelda, leader of the androids threatening a taskforce defending Earth from alien invasion. Alongside Zelda, Bryer played Captain Mary Falconer, the Terrahawks’ second-in-command and pilot of Battlehawk, a carrier aircraft – unusually, using her own voice – as well as several other characters. Completing 60 years on Anderson projects – making her his longest-running female voice artist – she reprised Zelda for three Terrahawks audio drama series between 2015 and 2017, shortly after his death. Her other best-remembered TV role was in the much-loved Hector’s House (1968-70), the dubbed version of a French puppet series. Bryer voiced Kiki, a giggling frog clad in gingham overalls, the next-door neighbour who spies on the sad-eyed dog Hector and his friend Zsazsa the cat. Advertising executives targeted the nostalgia market in 2003 when they revived the characters, including Bryer as Kiki, for Virgin bank commercials promoting its One account. please log in to view this image Denise Bryer behind the microphone. She was Gerry Anderson’s longest-running female voice artist, with 60 years on Anderson projects. Photograph: Lau Thoft Haslund Denise was born in Kensington, west London, the youngest of seven children of Susie (nee Mott), an aspiring actor who forsook the stage for motherhood, and Claude Bryer, a jeweller in his family’s business. Her eldest sister, Vera, was a professional actor who danced with Fred Astaire. Encouraged to perform, Denise appeared at the age of nine in the film A Romance in Flanders (1937), a first world war drama starring Alastair Sim. Then, during the second world war, she was evacuated to Buckinghamshire, where she attended school, before training at Rada in London. Although she did little theatre work and was rarely seen on television, Bryer’s radio career encompassed half a century (1947-96) and she narrated children’s stories in the Tale Spinners for Children series of records in the early 1960s. On screen, she also voiced Billina the chicken in the live-action Disney movie Return to Oz (1985) and the devious Junk Lady in the film fantasy Labyrinth, directed by Jim Henson (1986), as well as being heard in Gulliver’s Travels (1977), starring Richard Harris. Bryer dubbed the voices of Impedimenta in The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976), a Belgian-French cartoon film, the sorceress Circe in Hercules (1983) and Commander Makara in Star Fleet (1982-83), an English-language version of the Japanese TV sci-fi puppet series X Bomber, which attempted to blend the styles of Thunderbirds and Star Wars. Doctor Who aficionados will recall her as Dominique van Gysegham in the 2006 audio adventure The Reaping. Among many commercials, for products ranging from Cadbury’s chocolate to Colgate toothpaste, she voiced a French monkey in a 1971 PG Tips spoof on the Tour de France. “I love your PG Tips, Mr!” she says in French to a male cyclist, who responds in English: “Can you ride tandem?” Bryer’s 1954 marriage to Parsons was dissolved in 1989. She is survived by their children, Suzy and Justin. Denise Pauline Rosalie Bryer, actor and voice artist, born 5 January 1928; died 16 October 2021
Mark Adjie Local footballer and my former work colleague at Swift in the 90s. Great guy. One of the best. RIP.
Wolves @Wolves We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of club legend and vice president Ron Flowers MBE at the age of 87.
A big name for us oldies when growing up. First game I saw was the Cup Final in 1957 just before my 7th birthday. Before my 10th birthday Wolves had won the league twice and also the FA Cup. England regular as well of course for a number of years.
Secret army was great and he was both menacing and charming as the head of gestapo. It started a rerun of series one on talking pictures the other week .
Was Mark the older or younger of the brothers . If it's the one I'm thinking of he went to Sid Smith and I played against him in school football ?
I remember him playing a friendly at City although he played at the back he shot from an absurd distance and rattled the crossbar
