Michael Cole (writer)’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Intro British children’s television author
Is Writer 
Author 
Children’s writer 
From United Kingdom 
Type Literature 
Gender male

Michael Cole (1933-2001) created a number of children’s programmes from the 70s to the 90s, including Alphabet Castle, Heads and Tails and Ragtime, for which he won a Society of Film and Television Award (later known as a BAFTA) for Best Children’s Programme.
Together with his wife Joanne Cole, he created Bod, originally published as four books in 1965 and made into a TV show in the 70s, as well as Fingerbobs and Gran.

Life and work

Michael Cole was born in Willesden, London on 17 March 1933. During the war he and his family were evacuated to Cheltenham where after junior school he went to Cheltenham College. He trained as an intelligence officer during national service in the army and was sent to Cambridge University to learn Russian. In 1959, he collaborated with Halas and Batchelor writing for two series of animated shorts (Habatales) for ABC TV, including The Cultured Ape which was awarded best film in its category at the 1959 Venice Film Festival.

In 1964 Cole moved with his wife and 2 children to South of France where they created the first Bod books which were published by Metheun in 1965. Two years later, and now with four children, Cole began working for BBC children’s television, initially writing and directing for Play School. and Play Away. In 1972 Michael and Joanne Cole created Fingerbobs, songs and stories with simple paper puppets and artwork by Joanne Cole. The show starred Rick Jones and was shown on BBC until 1984. In 1972, Cole wrote and directed Ragtime a BBC studio programme with songs and sketches, featuring puppets by Joanne Cole, illustrations by Quentin Blake and music by Peter Gosling. The programme won a Society of Film and Television Award (later known as a BAFTA) in 1973 for Best Children’s Programme and was followed by a second series.

In 1975, Cole developed the four original Bod books into a thirteen episode animated cartoon series for BBC. Narrated by John Le Mesurier and Maggie Henderson with music by Derek Griffiths, nine new stories were created which were later made into books. The films were animated by Alan Rogers and the programmes also featured Alberto Frog with artwork by Joanne Cole. Bod was broadcast on BBC until 1984. It was also shown in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Poland and Israel. In the United States, Bod aired on Nickelodeon as part of the Pinwheel program.

Music and songwriting were always major parts of Cole’s programmes and another collaboration with Derek Griffiths lead to Heads and Tails in 1977. Made up of archive and specially shot footage of animals with humorous voices, songs and music by Griffiths. Songs from both Ragtime and Heads and Tails were released as vinyl LPs.

In the early 1980s Cole wrote and directed two studio programmes for BBC, Bric-a-brac starring Brian Cant in a fictitious junk shop and Chockablock featuring a big yellow computer and presented by Fred Harris and Carol Leader. He also worked with David Yates in creating Pigeon Street animated by Alan Rogers and Peter Lang. The 13 episodes featured everyday people and animals living on Pigeon street, including such characters as long distant lorry driver, Clara, with a song to match. It was shown on BBC from 1981 and repeated until 1994.

In 1982 the Coles created Gran co-written with Joanne Cole. These tales of a most surprising grandmother, which were later developed into books, were animated by Ivor Wood (who had collaborated with Cole on the first series of Postman Pat ) and were narrated by Patricia Hayes. In 1985, Cole’s wife Joanne died of cancer aged 51. The same year Fingermouse was released, a musical version of Fingerbobs starring the paper mouse and other puppets, Joanne Cole’s last work. In 1987, Cole wrote 26 episodes of Edward and Friends, a stop-motion animated Lego with narration by Bernard Cribbins. and created Dot Stop for Playdays which aired on BBC from 1989-97.

In 1992 Cole married his second wife Pam and from 1993–95 wrote and produced three series of Alphabet Castle and Tinysaurs for Carlton TV.

In 2000, Cole started working on a new Bod book which he left unfinished before he died of cancer in 2001 at age 68. One year later, Bod’s Way was published, written and illustrated by his children Alison and Laurence and based on Cole’s original ideas.

TV shows

  • Play School – 1967-88
  • Play Away – 1971-76
  • Fingerbobs – 1972
  • Ragtime – 1973
  • Bod – 1975
  • Heads and Tails – 1977
  • Bricabrac – 1980
  • Pigeon Street – 1981
  • Chockablock – 1981
  • Stop and Go – 1981
  • Gran – 1982
  • Fingermouse – 1985
  • Pie in the Sky – 1986
  • Playdays – 1988-1997
  • Alphabet Castle – 1993
  • Tinysaurs – 2000
  • “Curious British Telly: Why Michael Cole Was an Incredible Star of Children’s TV”. curiousbritishtelly.co.uk. 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015. 
  • “Toonhound – Fingerbobs (1972)”. toonhound.com. 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2015. 
  • http://www.toonhound.com/bod.htm
  • British Broadcasting Corporation. “BBC – h2g2 – Derek Griffiths – Entertainer”. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2015. 
  • “Toonhound – Pigeon Street (1981)”. toonhound.com. Retrieved 5 February 2015. 
  • “Playbus / Playdays (BBC 1988-1997 with Zoe Ball and Simon Davies) | Memorable TV”. memorabletv.com. 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015. 

Publications

  • Bod’s Apple – 1965
  • Bod’s Present – 1965
  • Bod’s Dream – 1965
  • Bod and the Cherry Tree – 1965
  • Wet Albert – 1967
  • Kate and Sam’s Pet – 1971
  • Kate and Sam’s Tea – 1971
  • Kate and Sam’s New Home – 1971
  • Kate and Sam Go Out – 1971
  • The Baby and the Band – 1973
  • The Boot in the Field – 1973
  • Bod and Breakfast – 1977
  • Bod and the Dog – 1977
  • Bod and the Grasshopper – 1977
  • Bod’s Kite – 1977
  • Bod and the Beach – 1977
  • Bod and the Cake – 1977
  • Bod and the Birds – 1977
  • Pigeon Street books – 1982
  • Gran books – 1985
  • Edward and Friends books – 1987
  • Head in the Sand – 1989

Theatre

Cole worked with composer Paul Reade on a musical version of Aesop’s fables, A Feast of Fables, and the musical fairytale Cinderella, performed all over the UK.

Discography

  • Ragtime – lyrics by Michael Cole and music by Peter Gosling. BBC records, 1974.
  • Heads and Tails – lyrics by Michael Cole and music by Derek Griffiths. BBC records,1980.
  • Fingerbobs – lyrics by Michael Cole and music by Michael Jessett, Trunk records 2011.
  • http://www.discogs.com/Maggie-Henderson-And-Fred-Harris-Ragtime/release/3655881
  • http://www.discogs.com/Derek-Griffiths-Heads-And-Tails/release/3784037
  • http://www.discogs.com/Michael-Cole-3-And-Michael-Jessett-Fingerbobs-Original-Television-Music/master/397414
You May Also Like

Mark Consuelos’s net worth, biography, fact, career, awards and life story

Mark Consuelos Net Worth: Mark Consuelos is an American actor who has a net worth of $40 million dollars. It should be noted that the majority of Mark’s net worth is attributable to his wife, TV star Kelly Ripa. Consuelos is best known for playing Mateo Santos on the ABC soap opera “All My Children” (1995–2001) and villainous Hiram Lodge on The CW’s “Riverdale” (2017–present). Mark has more than 40 acting credits to his name, appearing in films such as “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” (2006), “Wedding Daze” (2006), and “Cop Out” (2010). He has also guest-starred on several TV shows, including “Friends” (2001), “Hope & Faith” (2005–2006), “American Horror Story: Asylum” (2012–2013), and “Riverdale” spin-off “Katy Keene” (2020), and he had regular roles on the crime drama “Missing” (2004–2006), political satire “Alpha House” (2013–2014), and baseball drama “Pitch” (2016). Early Life: Mark Consuelos was born Mark Andrew Consuelos on March 30, 1971, in Zaragoza, Spain. His mother, Camilla, is Italian, and his father, Saul, is Mexican. Mark grew up in Italy, Illinois, and Florida with two older siblings, and while the family was living in Lebanon, Illinois, he appeared in a production of the musical “Hello, Dolly” at the Looking Glass Playhouse. He enrolled at the University of Notre Dame after graduating from Valrico, Florida’s Bloomingdale High School but later transferred to the University of South Florida, earning a marketing degree in 1994. Career: Consuelos was a dancer with Suncoast Calendar Men in the early 1990s until he was cast on “All My Children” in 1995. Mark played Mateo Santos on 104 episodes of the soap opera, and future wife Kelly Ripa played his love interest, Hayley Vaughan. Consuelos earned several awards for his performance, and he briefly reprised his role in 2010 for the show’s 40th anniversary. Mark and Kelly both left “All My Children” in the early 2000s when Ripa decided she wanted to focus on her job at “Live! with Regis and Kelly,” and Consuelos has served as a guest co-host on his wife’s morning show more than 90 times. During his time on “All My Children,” Mark guest-starred on NBC’s “Friends” and “Third Watch” in 2001 and appeared on the educational series “Connect With English” in 1997. Consuelos made his big screen debut in 2002’s “The Last Place on Earth.” That year, he also appeared in the film “Pride & Loyalty” and two episodes of the PBS series “American Family.” The following year, he guest-starred on “Third Watch” again (in a different role than his previous appearance) and co-starred with Marissa Jaret Winokur and Fran Drescher in the ABC Family television movie “Beautiful Girl.” In 2004, Mark joined the cast of the Canadian series “Missing,” playing FBI Agent Antonio Cortez on 37 episodes. In 2005, he appeared in the war film “The Great Raid” and guest-starred on Ripa’s ABC sitcom “Hope & Faith” for the first time; he would end up playing baseball player Gary “The Gooch” Gucharez, a love interest for Kelly’s character, in ten episodes. Mark then appeared in the 2006 films “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” and “Wedding Daze” and hosted the 2007 reality dating series “Age of Love.” Over the next few years, Consuelos appeared in two movies, “Husband for Hire” (2008) and “For the Love of Grace” (2008), and guest-starred on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (2007) and “Ugly Betty” (2008). In 2010, he co-starred with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis in “Cop Out,” which was directed by Kevin Smith. In 2012, Mark began working with Ryan Murphy, appearing in five episodes of “American Horror Story: Asylum” and guest-starring on a 2013 episode of NBC’s “The New Normal.” From 2013 to 2014, Consuelos played Republican senator/presidential candidate Andy Guzman on all 21 episodes of Amazon Studios’ “Alpha House,” and he soon appeared in the films “A Walk Among the Tombstones” (2014), “All We Had” (2016), and “Nine Lives” (2016) as well as several episodes of “Kingdom” (2015) and “Queen of the South” (2016). Mark also landed a main role on “Pitch” in 2016, playing the general manager of the San Diego Padres. In 2017, Consuelos appeared in eight episodes of NBC’s “The Night Shift” and began playing mob boss Hiram Lodge on the popular teen drama “Riverdale.” A far cry from the Hiram Lodge seen in Archie Comics, Riverdale’s Hiram is known for serving jail time for fraud and embezzlement, running the town’s drug trade, and framing his daughter’s boyfriend, Archie Andrews, for murder. Mark’s son Michael played a younger version of Hiram in the season 3 episode “The Midnight Club.” Personal Life: Mark married “All My Children” co-star Kelly Ripa on May 1, 1996. The couple, who eloped in Las Vegas, welcomed son Michael on June 2, 1997, daughter Lola on June 16, 2001, and son Joaquin on February 24, 2003. Consuelos became an ordained minister after Howard Stern asked Mark to officiate his 2008 wedding ceremony to Beth Ostrosky. Consuelos speaks Italian and visits Italy every year, and he enjoys playing soccer and softball as well as cheering on the New York Jets. Awards and Nominations: Consuelos was nominated for five ALMA Awards for his work on “All My Children,” winning Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Soap Opera in 1998 and 1999. He won Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Male Newcomer in 1996 and Outstanding Younger Lead Actor in 2000, and he shared the award for Hottest Romance with his wife in 1998. Mark earned a Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Villain for “Riverdale” in 2018, and he received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2002 and Imagen Foundation Award nominations in 2005 (for “Missing”) and 2015 (for “Alpha House”) Real Estate: Mark and Kelly own several homes around the country. In 2005, they spent $9 million on a 6,700 square foot home in New York City and later sold it for a $3 million profit. In May 2014, Consuelos and Ripa sold a different NYC home for $24.5 million. Today their primary residence is a 5-bedroom NYC townhouse that’s worth at least $30 million. The five-story home has an elevator that takes people up to a private rooftop patio and garden. For vacations, they have a ski home in Telluride, Colorado and a beach home in the Hamptons. The couple bought their Hamptons home for $2.35 million in 2004. It’s likely that this home is worth $10-15 million today. Their combined real estate portfolio is worth at least $45 million.
Read More