Hart Beat - Tony Hart, Morph and Mr Bennett

"Tony really gave me my first chance to show what I could do. He really was one of the nicest persons you could ever wish to meet. He has been missed on our screens by a lot of people for a few years and he will be missed by everyone even more now." - Wilf Lunn -

Roc Renals

Anyone who had any dealings with Tony in a professional capacity will know Roc Renals. He was not only Tony's agent, he was his closest friend.

Roc originally met Tony Hart in 1974, after inviting him to open an exhibition of Japanese children's art.

"I was able to get him to come and open it for me because that's the sort of chap he was, if someone wanted him to help them he would help them.

"I took him out for lunch afterwards and we immediately became very good friends. Several months later, during a ‘phone chat, I told him that I was going to California on a business trip, and he told me – rather wistfully - that he'd never been to the USA. Rather surprised at that, I said: "do you want to come with me?" and his reply was an enthusiastic “Yes!”

“In the couple of weeks before we left I got him a few bookings on American TV stations, and a few personal appearances. This must have impressed him and one evening, in a Las Vegas club, after a few Jack Daniels, he said to me, "Would you look after me? I need someone to look after me”." He then told me that he had been opening shops, and making personal appearances, without asking for a penny, and he was aware that he was missing out”

Now, Roc was a busy executive director of a large nationwide retail travel agency, but he always says that because he was a Gemini he was never happier than when he was doing several things at once. From that time onwards Tony's clients paid a proper commercial fee for his services. Roc was also an experienced freelance journalist, which made him able to deal with press enquiries and general publicity

Roc falsified his age to make an early entry into World War 2. "The Redcaps came to my house a year later to arrest me for not registering with my draft. They were amazed to be told that I was already soldiering in North Africa " he says. He also served in the Sicily and Italy campaigns, finishing up in Paris as military manager of three hotels occupied by British Army officers. He joined Thos Cook after the war, and for 25 years was an executive director for one of Britain 's biggest retail travel agency groups, Hunting Lambert.

Roc is married to Julie and they both celebrated their Ruby Wedding anniversary in 2000. They live on Edgcumbe Park in Crowthorne, Berkshire and have three grown-up children; two sons, and a daughter. They are also very proud grandparents to Ben and Rosie (Jeremy's children), Kira (Lisa's daughter) and Callum and Luke (Nic's son).   

Roc worked closely with Tony (jointly they raised thousands of pounds each year when Roc auctioned Tony's Hartoons); Roc is also very active in his own community, both as a fundraiser and a worker on projects. He is a Rotarian, and has been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in recognition of his service work in Rotary.

Tony and Jean Hart