The son of two stage performers, Hearne and his family lived on Lady Lane opposite the Norwich Theatre Royal. The site is now occupied by the city’s Forum building.<\/p>\n
Soon after his birth, his mother was appearing in a play at the theatre which required a baby, and young Richard was given the part.<\/p>\n
“My mother said I didn’t cry at all, I was wonderful,” he explained in an interview for BBC Radio 4 in 1968.<\/p>\n
“But the only thing is, every time I was turned my eyes were glued to the lime lights. So wherever I was turned, this head was fixed, staring at the lime lights.”<\/p>\n
Hearne eventually became very well-known on British television as Mr Pastry, an old man character whose doddery, good-natured antics served as a showcase for Hearne’s acrobatic slapstick routines.<\/p>\n