Ruxton Hayward

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Ruxton Hayward ^[1] is a British eccentric. In the early 1950's, as a scoutmaster in London he attempted to recruit acts for a stage show, and approached first Michael Bentine and then, at Bentine's recommendation, Peter Sellers. Sellers was so taken with Haywards appearance, the man being tall with a bushy red beard, and wearing a Boy Scout uniform with short trousers, that he used an imitation of Hayward's high-pitched voice for the character Bluebottle in The Goon Show^[2]. The character became so popular that it was expanded. Bluebottle became leader of "the East Finchley Wolf Cubs" and secret admirer of Molly Quotts.

Hayward lived on, unaware of his fame until the events above were described by Peter Sellers on television in 1972. After this he attempted a stage career, developing characters he called "Bearded Schoolboy", "Woolly Wolfcub", and "Happy Sandboy". He also made appearances at meetings of the Goon Show Preservation Society. He is an active member of the actors union Equity, subsection Variety. According to an article in the Guardian^[3], he has been elected as a union representative at least once.