MONITOR: ROD HULL

All the News of the World

Tributes to Rod Hull following the comedian's death on Wednesday night

The Sun

WHAT A tragic end for Rod Hull. He was never a superstar. But he did make millions laugh. His act with Emu was unique. It was hard to tell who was madder - Rod or the bird. We'll miss them both.

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The Guardian

EMU WAS Hull's survival kit. Whereas he was an intelligent, greyish retiring figure, who had endured private tragedy, Emu was agile, curious, aggressive, irrepressible and irresponsible. The constant bounciness of the Australian flightless bird was what the entertainer needed in a career which had embraced the extremes of fortune.

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The Express

ROD BECAME a national institution with Emu, the puppet with an unpredictable temper who once ate the Queen Mother's bouquet and and wrestled chat show host Michael Parkinson to the ground. He made a fortune, lost it to the tax man and finally found contentment out of the limelight.

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The Mirror

SOMEONE WHO can reduce the nation to hysterical laughter over the antics of a puppet has a rare talent. Rod Hull did. It was impossible to explain why he was so funny. If he has Emu with him still, St Peter had better watch out.

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The Times

EMU AND his manipulator could always be guaranteed to bring out the worst in each other, and their anarchic behaviour was a refreshing change from the TV studio "good taste" of the day. No one who ventured within range of them was safe from indignity.