Ronnie Le Drew, the Canadian-born puppeteer best known for operating and voicing Zippy on the children's television programme Rainbow, has died aged 78 after a short illness, the British Puppet Guild confirmed on Monday.
Le Drew took over puppeteering Zippy in 1974 and provided the character's voice from 1991, remaining with Rainbow until the show's original run ended in 1992. Beyond children's television, he worked on major films including Labyrinth, Little Shop of Horrors, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and A Quiet Place: Day One. He also co-founded the London School of Puppetry with Caroline Astell-Burt and served as president of the British Puppet Guild for a decade.
His son announced the death on X, and Le Drew is survived by family. In 2019, he published the autobiography Zippy and Me: My Life Inside Britain's Most Infamous Puppet.