Maria Bird
Born
Maria Edith Bird

(1891-08-24)24 August 1891
Pietermaritzburg, Colony of Natal
Died25 August 1979(1979-08-25) (aged 88)
Westerham, Kent, England
OccupationProducer
Notable workWatch with Mother

Maria Edith Bird (pronounced Marie) (24 August 1891 – 25 August 1979) was a South–African born British producer.

She was born in Pietermaritzburg, Colony of Natal, and died in the village where she lived for most of her life, Westerham, aged 88.[1]

She was a descendant of Francis Bird the sculptor and Colonel Christopher Bird who was Colonial Secretary at Cape Town Castle (where there is a landmark named after him in Kirstenbosch, South Africa – Colonel Bird's Bath).[2] Her mother brought her children from Natal Colony to the UK to be educated and Maria attended a Scottish convent. Following school, she studied the Dalcroze eurhythmics music and dance method under Émile Jaques-Dalcroze in Dessau.[3]

Maria Bird helped found BBC Children's Television with her close friend Freda Lingstrom with whom she set up Westerham Arts, the production company commissioned by the BBC to produce TV pieces including The Woodentops (1955), Flower Pot Men (1952) and Andy Pandy (1950).[4] Westerham Arts was based in Chartwell Cottage (owned by Bird and Lingstrom and subsequently bequeathed to the National Trust). It neighbours the Chartwell Estate. Maria and Freda built a shed in their garden where their puppet films were made.[3] In addition to TV production she was a writer,[5] narrator[6] and musician.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "FreeBMD Entry Info". Freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Kirstenbosch NBG: Colonel Bird's Bath". SANBI.org. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 Transcript from interview with Maria Bird's nephew
  4. ↑ Maria Bird narrated all the 1950s black and white original transmissions of 'Watch With Mother', much later, however, Vera Mc Kechnie narrated the colour remakes of Andy Pandy in 1970, Vera narrated 'Picture Book' after her predecessor Patricia Driscoll, she had no input into Watch With Mother. In Andy Pandy is almost deviant, The Daily Telegraph, 29 April 2013
  5. ↑ "Andy Pandy series by Maria Bird". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Andy Pandy (Episode 1)". YouTube. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Woodentops, The (1955–57)". Screenonline.org.uk. 9 September 1955. Retrieved 2 March 2016.


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