Rex Garrod’s funeral. The coffin was decorated by his lifelong friend and collaborator Tim Hunkin.
Rex Garrod, Born 1943
maker of robotic machines for television
After a successful early career as a speedway motorcycle racer, Rex Garrod moved into special effects for film and television. Garrod designed and built the remote controlled car which starred in the children’s TV series Brum. Garrod was Team Leader of Team Cassius, a team of roboteers which entered several robots into Series 1, 2 and 3 of the BBC TV series Robot Wars. In addition to the performances of his robots, he was known for his generosity in helping other teams fix their machines. He was a lifelong friend of the cartoonist and engineer Tim Hunkin, with whom he collaborated on the Channel 4 TV series The Secret Life of Machines. After several years struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, he died aged 75 in 2019. He was an avid collector of scrap metals and machinery, which was accommodated in several extensons to his home workshop. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of East Anglia, and was happy to be described as ‘the professor of bodgineering’.
Click below to view his life story: