The Morning’s Gyles Brandreth has revealed he ‘blames himself’ for the death of legendary TV entertainer Rod Hull.
Rod, who was famed for his emu attacks on Michael Parkinson and several other famous faces, tragically died in 1999 after falling from the roof of his bungalow and suffering a severe skull fracture and chest injuries.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
ITV star and former MP Gyles, 76, has now revealed that days earlier Rod had been complaining to him about his awful TV connection and he ‘encouraged’ him to ‘get a ladder’ and climb on the roof.
Gyles admitted he feels responsible for his friend’s death after he took his advice while watching a Champions League match between Manchester United and Inter Milan, at half-time.
The Morning’s Gyles Brandreth has revealed he ‘blames himself’ for the death of legendary entertainer Rod Hull
Rod, who was famed for his emu attacks on Michael Parkinson and several other famous faces, tragically died in 1999 after falling from the roof of his bungalow and suffering a severe skull fracture and chest injuries (pictured 1990)
Former MP Gyles, 76, has now revealed that days earlier Rod had been complaining to him about his awful TV connection and he ‘encouraged’ him to ‘get a ladder’ and climb on the roof
Speaking on his Rosebud podcast, Gyles admitted: ‘I killed a man – it was Rod Hull, the emu man.
‘We were at the theatre, we were at the first night of Animal Crackers – it was a show about the Marx brothers.
‘Terrible, terrible weather that night. And he was sitting next to me, and he was complaining all through the show – was interrupting the show almost – going on about how he wanted to get home because he wanted to watch the football, but his Sky aerial wasn’t transmitting properly.
‘And I said, “Don’t moan about it, if you want to watch the television get a ladder out, climb on to the roof, and fix it Rod”.
‘And after the show, in this stormy weather, he went home, he got out a ladder, he climbed the ladder, and he tried to fix the aerial.
‘Unfortunately the wind was very great and he fell backwards off the ladder and killed himself.
‘So I wasn’t actually there, but I’d encouraged him.’
Rod was 63 when he died and the incident was declared as accidental by an inquest.
Gyles admitted he feels responsible for his friends death after he took his advice while watching a Champions League match between Manchester United and Inter Milan, at half-time (pictured 1976)
Speaking on his Rosebud podcast, Gyles admitted: ‘I killed a man – it was Rod Hull, the emu man. I said, “Don’t moan about it, if you want to watch the television get a ladder out, climb on to the roof, and fix it Rod”
Gyles added: ‘And after the show, in this stormy weather, he went home, he got out a ladder to try to fix the aerial. Unfortunately the wind was very great and he fell backwards. So I wasn’t actually there, but I’d encouraged him’ (pictured in 1987 with Grotbags)
Gyles went onto explain how Rod included his iconic emu into his funeral as he had arranged for a knocking sound accompanying the entry of his coffin.
He added: ‘It was a great funeral though because at his funeral the coffin came in, and as the coffin was being carried in, it was a sort of [constant tapping sound].
‘He’d arranged a beak sound to be inside the coffin as though the emu was also in the coffin.’
Children’s TV show Rod ‘n’ Emu aired on CITV in the 90s and starred Rod who created and wrote all the episodes as himself, with Carol Lee Scott as Grotbags and Freddie Stevens as her assistants Croc the crocodile and Redford the robot.