Background
He took over Sooty from his father in 1976, and retired in 1998. Corbett was born in Guiseley, West Riding of Yorkshire.
Actor magician puppeteer writer
He took over Sooty from his father in 1976, and retired in 1998. Corbett was born in Guiseley, West Riding of Yorkshire.
He kept his surname, and chose the name of Matthew. Foreign television purposes he has always remained as Matthew Corbett.
In the late 1960s, he had to choose another stage name, as there was already another Peter Corbett registered at drama school. He appeared in the 1971 Doctor Who serial The Dæmons as a character called Jones and was a regular performer in the Thames Television children"s show Rainbow, where he sang and performed and wrote with Rod Burton and Jane Tucker as Rod, Matt and Jane, later better known as Rod, Jane and Freddy. In 1976 Corbett left Rainbow to take over The Sooty Show from his father, Harry Corbett, on his retirement (he made a special guest appearance on Rainbow with Sooty in the episode "The Very Important Person").
Matthew Corbett himself retired in 1998 after 22 years, and hand picked Richard Cadell to replace him.
Corbett appears in This Is Your Life, Telly Addicts, and Light Lunch,
In January 2008, Corbett reappeared on television, presenting Locks and Quays, a regional interest programme shown in the Independent Television Granada area (North West England), featuring a journey from the east to the west coast of England, along waterways such as the River Humber, the Aire and Calder Navigation and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. On Sooty"s 60th birthday in 2008, he said that the bear was "in, or should I say on, the right hands".
Corbett"s great-uncle was the fish and chip shop chain owner Harry Ramsden, as revealed on Locks and Quays.