Australian Dictionary of Biography

Norman Hetherington surrounded by puppets, including Mr Squiggle, Bill and Gus.

National Museum of Australia with permission from the Hetherington family.

Norman Frederick Hetherington (1921–2010), artist, cartoonist, and puppeteer, was born on 29 May 1921 at Leichhardt, Sydney, elder child and only son of English-born Frederick Hetherington, cabinetmaker, and his locally born wife Ellen Mary, née Markwell. After commencing his schooling at Burwood Public School (1927–33), Norman attended Fort Street Boys’ High School (1934–37), where his headmaster described him as ‘a lad of considerable ability … gentlemanly and courteous and of high moral character’ (Christmas 1938). His ambition was to be a cartoonist, and by the age of sixteen he had already sold his first cartoon to the Bulletin. Though the school advised him to continue his academic studies, his parents backed his decision to instead pursue art at East Sydney Technical College (1937–40). To help support the family after his father was injured in a workplace accident in 1939, Hetherington worked as a commercial artist for the advertising agency Lintas Pty Ltd and transitioned to part-time studies at night.

Volunteering for service in World War II, Hetherington commenced full-time duty in the Citizen Military Forces on 1 October 1941, training with the 30th Battalion. His creative talent was soon noticed, and in June 1942 he was posted to the 2nd Division Concert Party (later No. 4 Detachment, 1st Australian Entertainment Unit). He transferred to the Australian Imperial Force in September as a newly promoted acting corporal (confirmed May 1943).

The concert party featured an actor, saxophonist, trumpeter, band leader, composer, comedian, drummer, bassist, trombonist, pianist, electrician, and prop creator. Describing himself as a cartoonist, Hetherington entertained troops in Australia (1942–46), the Torres Strait and Netherlands New Guinea (1944), and New Britain and New Guinea (1945). At each camp he spent some time sketching quick portraits, which he would later reproduce on stage as part of his act. He later recalled: ‘I must have drawn 100’s if not 1,000’s [sic] of Brigadiers, Generals, Colonels, Majors, Captains … and the cooks and the men who dug the latrines’ (NMA IRN286163). Another of his routines was the ‘lightning sketch.’ Performing as ‘Sir William Dumbell,’ he would begin with a few lines on a canvas visible to the audience. He would progressively add details before presenting it as an entirely new image, often rotating the picture on a swivelling easel as part of the final reveal. On 16 May 1946 he was demobilised in Sydney.

Hetherington had continued to sell cartoons during the war, signing his work ‘Heth.’ Soon after his demobilisation, the Bulletin offered him the coveted position of staff cartoonist (1946–61). In this role, he produced political cartoons, caricatures, illustrations, and a full-page weekly cartoonlet, a style of narrative cartoon developed by Livingston Hopkins, which he used to comment on Australian society and life. Feeling that he ‘wasn’t really a political animal’ (NMA IRN286163), he twice declined offers to join the Sydney Morning Herald as political cartoonist.

A man of inexorable and unceasing artistic energy, Hetherington made the most of the opportunity the Bulletin provided its staff to continue their external creative pursuits. He became involved in a youth theatre group associated with the Burwood Methodist Church, and in 1949 he incorporated Tipsy, a clown marionette he had constructed, into one of his performances. This marked a significant turning point in his life and career.

Puppets drew Hetherington’s creative passions together into a new outlet and allowed him to reach a different, younger audience. He saw them as ‘3-dimensional cartoon characters—animated by strings & in colour’ and, seeing a whole new world of ‘fantasy & imagination’ opening before him, became ‘completely hooked’ (NMA IRN286163). Working with Edith Murray and the Clovelly Puppet Theatre, he began to create, produce, and perform his own shows in theatres, department stores, and preschools around Australia. Although busy, he delighted in that ‘wonderful combination’ of being ‘a cartoonist by day … & puppeteer at night & weekends’ (NMA IRN286163). It was not until 1961 that he would describe himself as a full-time puppeteer.

During a 1955 Christmas performance at the Anthony Hordern & Sons department store in Sydney, Hetherington and his puppets were discovered by the education broadcaster Kay Kinane and asked to join the Australian Broadcasting Commission staff training school to prepare for the introduction of television. In November 1956, on the opening night of the ABC’s national television service, he appeared with a boy and dog puppet, the duo Nicky and Noodle. Then, in 1957, he also presented the first puppets on Australian commercial television in Jolly Gene and His Fun Machine, which aired five days a week on Channel 7.

On 18 August 1958 Hetherington married Margaret ‘Peggy’ Owrid (née Purnell), a social worker, at the registrar general’s office, Sydney. Peggy was a former art student and member of Sydney’s New Theatre League. She became her husband’s long-time creative collaborator and together they raised their two children—Stephen Cade (1959) and Rebecca Jane (1962)—at Mosman, where the family home also served as a studio, workshop, and creative hub.

In 1959 the ABC gave Hetherington six days to come up with a show to fill in for Nicky and Noodle while it was on a break from programming. This new show was to centre on a quirky character he had already been working on: a marionette who could draw with his nose. Mr Squiggle first appeared on screens on 1 July as part of the ABC’s Wednesday afternoon children’s programming. The titular character lived at 93 Crater Crescent, the Moon, and travelled on his rocket to Earth. He was accompanied by a presenter: first Miss Gina, followed by Miss Pat, Miss Sue, Miss Jane, Roxanne, and then Hetherington’s daughter, Rebecca. Children across the country were invited to send in their squiggles and a lucky few would watch as Mr Squiggle transformed them into complete pictures. Such was the puppet’s fame that sketches addressed simply to ‘Mr Squiggle’ would arrive at their destination. On finishing each drawing Mr Squiggle would often exclaim ‘everything's upside down these days!’ and ask his companion to rotate the page to reveal the complete picture, an echo of Hetherington’s army entertainment performances. Over time the format varied from five-minute segments to a ninety-minute variety show, on screen and on stage.

Unlike the brash, rude, and aggressive ventriloquist puppets that dominated children’s entertainment, Mr Squiggle was a ‘polite, gentle, quiet, sensitive little person, always needing someone to hold his hand & solve his problems’ (NMA IRN286163). He was immediately recognisable to generations of Australian children, especially after the introduction of colour television in 1975, when viewers became familiar with his tall, green striped hat perched atop vibrant blue hair, as well as his bright yellow smock, blushing freckled cheeks, and pencil nose. Hetherington created, performed, and voiced all the characters in the show, including Rocket, Blackboard, Bill Steamshovel, and Gus the Snail. Blackboard, which Mr Squiggle used as an easel, was impatient and would always urge Mr Squiggle to ‘hurry up’—a phrase that entered the Australian lexicon. Hetherington was content to remain unseen, commenting: ‘I wanted to make the puppet take over from me … I wanted a puppet that could draw – and I could hide’ (Who’s Pulling the Strings 2005). Hetherington’s exuberance and warmth pulled those around him into his creative orbit. He drew on his wife Peggy as a key collaborator. For Squiggle she began by offering ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. Eventually, as her husband’s working life became busier, she took over the scriptwriting altogether.

Hetherington’s contribution to Australian puppetry was significant. At its height, Mr. Squiggle was one of the most popular children’s television shows in the country. It aired until 9 July 1999, a run of just over forty years that saw more than ten thousand squiggles completed for the show’s adoring fans. Hetherington created many other characters, performed around Australia, and completed designs for clients in subsequent decades. He served as president (1969–c. 1982) of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Puppetry Guild and helped organise the Australian branch of the Union Internationale de la Marrionnette (UNIMA; president 1970–84). In 1989 he and Peggy won the Television Society of Australia’s Colin Bednall award for Mr. Squiggle. The next year he was awarded the OAM. He was also made an honorary member of UNIMA and life member of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association (both 2008) and was presented with the latter’s prestigious Jim Russell award (2009) for his outstanding contribution to Australian cartooning.

A lanky, energetic, tousled-haired, gentle, and uniquely creative individual, whose best-known creation bore a remarkable resemblance to him both in character and physical appearance, Hetherington left an enduring mark on Australian popular culture and imagination. He died on 6 December 2010 in Greenwich Hospital, Sydney, and was cremated. His wife and children survived him. In 2024 the National Museum of Australia acquired a large collection of his artworks, scripts, sets, and puppets, including Mr Squiggle and his friends, which went on display in 2025.