The documentary, Sooty Ungloved, premieres on Saturday in Guiseley, West Yorkshire, where Harry lived with his family for 35 years.
Matthew Corbett, who took over from his father as Sooty, Soo and Sweep’s handler on The Sooty Show in 1976, told filmmakers: “My father was called into the head office and the director general of the BBC said he had made a decision.
The idea of giving Sooty a girlfriend proved so controversial in the Sixties that the BBC’s director general had to insist on a “no touch” rule, according to a new documentary.
He died of a heart attack aged 71 in 1989, which is why profits from the screening are going towards providing a defibrillator for the area.