Eugene Lambert:THE PUPPETEER and television broadcaster Eugene Lambert, who has died aged 81, was the driving force behind Wanderly Wagon, RTÉ's most popular children's programme, which was first broadcast in 1967 and ran until 1982. He was also founder and director of the Lambert Puppet Theatre, which was established in Monkstown, Co Dublin, in 1972.
Wanderly Wagonchronicled the adventures of three adults on their travels in a magical horse-drawn caravan. They were accompanied by Judge, a cloth dog; Mr Crow, who lived in a cuckoo clock; and Foxy, who lived in a barrel fixed to the outside of the wagon.
Lambert played O’Brien, the comic of the show; Nora O’Mahony was the mother figure; and Bill Golding played Rory, the dashing hero with a wonderful singing voice.
The arrival in Ireland of colour television meant Wanderly Wagonbecame the first RTÉ programme to exploit the possibilities of chroma key. The colour separation overlay allowed the producers make the wagon fly or travel under the sea.
RTÉ director general Cathal Goan said Lambert’s aptitude for character, comedy and drama “led him and his family to forge a body of work and give an amount of pleasure that was unique and memorable”.
Emily Tully said of her grandfather: “He was a legend really, and it was a great childhood for all of us – all of us have worked in the puppet theatre at some stage. He was a creative man and he loved children’s entertainment.”
Born in Sligo in 1928, Eugene Lambert attended Summerhill College. When he was aged 15 his father, a librarian, died and he transferred to the local technical school. He qualified as a fitter, and after he married at 22 moved to Dublin, where he was employed by a refrigeration company in Pearse Street.
By now he was taking his first steps in ventriloquism, and with his dummy Frankie entered a talent competition, which he won. As a result he was booked into the Queens and Capitol theatres.
Frankie became Finnegan, and by 1954 Lambert was supporting Laurel and Hardy at the Olympia. He next toured the UK music hall circuit for 18 months, and later toured Ireland with “Din Joe” of Take the Floor fame.
With Finnegan he became a mainstay of Raidió Éireann variety shows, along with Danny Cummins, Albert Healy and Joe Lynch; he also presented a children’s record show.
Appearing with Maureen Potter in Gaels of Laughter at the Gaiety, he also took part in Jury’s Irish Cabaret, which was staged seven nights a week. All the while he was repairing fridges by day.
A practical joker, he once obtained a driving licence in Finnegan’s name.
His first outing on television was in CartaHudai in 1962, directed by Bob Quinn. Murphy agus a Cháirde followed, and in 1967 he collaborated with Colm Ó Briain in the series Brógeen Follows the Magic Tune, based on the children’s story by Patricia Lynch.
That year also he came up with the idea for Wanderly Wagon, and with Don Lennox devised the series. Writers included Carolyn Swift, Neil Jordan and Frank Kelly, who also appeared in the show. The success of the series meant he could devote himself full-time to puppetry.
Inspired by a visit to the Harlequin Puppet Theatre, Colwyn Bay, in 1972 he opened the Lambert Puppet Theatre in a converted stable at the rear of the family home. Each of his 10 children was involved. Family members made, painted, dressed and operated all their own puppets, and devised their own shows.
The 250-seat theatre entertained school outings and children's parties with a repertoire that included adaptations of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant, and The Tinder Boxby Hans Christian Andersen.
More adult tastes were catered for by productions such as WB Yeats's The Only Jealousy of Emerand Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds.
In 1980 Lambert was at the centre of some unwelcome attention when he was a victim of mistaken identity. In April he was taken into police custody in Dover after being arrested on his journey home from a holiday in France.
He was charged with deserting the British army in Omagh, Co Tyrone, in 1946. But the police offered no evidence on the charge when he appeared in court and the case was dismissed. He was not offered the apology he was due.
Happier times saw him promoting Irish tourism in the US, Japan and Australia. And Judge was employed to teach children the Safe Cross Code in television commercials.
In 1991 the theatre hosted the first Dublin International Puppet Festival, in which companies from Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK participated. Lambert hoped it would inspire young Irish artists “to investigate the potential of puppetry as an art form”.
Singer Michael Jackson befriended Lambert after playing a concert in Dublin in 1992, and visited him with his three children on his birthday in August 2007.
Predeceased by his sons Stephen and Jonathan, he is survived by his wife Mai, daughters Judy, Miriam, Paula and sons Gene, David, Noel, Liam and Conor.
Eugene Lambert: born 1928; died February 22nd, 2010