‘Friendly Giant’ puppeteer and radio talent Rod Coneybeare has died
Posted Sep 9, 2019 04:05:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO — Rod Coneybeare, who was the puppeteer of Rusty the Rooster and Jerome the Giraffe on the CBC-TV children’s series “The Friendly Giant,” has died.
His son, filmmaker Wilson Coneybeare, says his father died in Lindsay, Ont., on Thursday at age 89.
He says his father had been suffering from pneumonia and “went quickly, surrounded by family.”
Coneybeare also provided the voice and words of Jerome and Rusty on “The Friendly Giant,” which ran from 1958 to 1985.
The two characters were the main puppet companions of host Bob Homme.
Coneybeare, who was born in Belleville, Ont., also produced, wrote and acted in CBC Radio’s horror-fantasy series “Out of This World” in the 1950s.
The Canadian Press
