LAST week, Memories featured the fantastic story of Ronald Tomlinson – aka Rondart – who spent nearly 50 years earning a living around the world as a professional dart-blower.
“He was a lovely man, a really jovial character,” says Cliff Cowans of Sedgefield, whose late wife Joyce was Rondart’s niece.
“He was taught to blow darts a very early age by his father who was in a wheelchair and had developed the dart-blowing technique.”
This fits with other versions of the Rondart story which say that his father lost the use of his arms in the First World War trenches. As he couldn’t throw darts conventionally, he learned to spit them from his mouth sideways.
Rondart was one of four brothers and three sisters born in West Auckland – we believe some of his other relatives still live in St Helens. With his unique dart-blowing act, he took to the stage at the age of 12 before the Second World War and within a year he was earning £2-a-week in the West End of London.
“Someone would put a cigarette in their mouth and he would stand six or so feet away and blow a dart that knocked the cigarette out of their teeth,” says Cliff, who still has several packs of darts than Rondart used on stage. “Or he would blow up a balloon and get someone to hold the tied up end in their teeth and he would blow a dart to burst the balloon.”
For a better idea of Rondart’s act go the British Pathe website where there’s a magnificent two-minute clip of Rondart in action in 1955 (see link below). It was filmed on top of the Windmill Theatre in London, where Rondart was a resident for a number of years when the theatre was renowned for its nude “Windmill Girls”. In the colour newsreel, a couple of them happen to be relaxing in the sun on the theatre roof wearing skimpy swimsuits and high heels when Rondart turns up. He, lucky fellow, suddenly becomes the centre of their attention and entertains them with his dart-blowing antics.
You’ll find a link direct to the clip in the Memories section of The Northern Echo’s website.
When Rondart started on his stage career, his beautiful assistant was his wife, Jean, who was probably a south Durham girl. They split up, and Rondart recruited a Windmill Girl, Cristina from Colombia.
They toured the world, appearing with stars like Frankie Vaughan, Frank Randle and Larry Grayson. Rondart’s career culminated with his appearance on the Paul Daniels’ Magic Show on TV in 1985.
In the 1990s, he retired with Cristina to Witton Park, where he died in 2005 in his 80s. Cristina returned to Colombia from where she still exchanges Christmas cards with Cliff in Sedgefield.
We believe that Rondart was related somehow to Syd Hall of Darlington, who also appeared here last week. Syd, of course, started dart-blowing in Darlington’s cinemas and in 1938 was crowned the World Champion Dart Pouffer by the Daily Mirror.
CLICK HERE to go to British Pathe's brilliant 1955 video of Rondart in action