Diana Magdalene Roloff (21 April 1945 – 11 April 2000), known professionally as Diana Darvey, was a British

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and dancer, best known for her appearances on ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...

''.

Early life and career

The daughter of a former Windmill Girl, Pamela Cooper, Diana was raised and educated in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Her father died when she was just two and, when she first entered

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

, she adopted the surname "Davey" from her mother's second husband (the "r" was added years later). In 1962, aged 17, Darvey made her first

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

appearance as a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

dancer in Bath, and a year later, became a Butlin's Redcoat. She then became part of a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

troupe which travelled Sweden, Germany, and Spain. After the tour ended, Darvey settled in Spain, where she became a popular '' revista'' performer under famed Spanish

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

Colsada. Then for the next several years she appeared in musical theatre productions in and around Spain. It was during one such performance, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in the early 1970s, that she was "discovered" again, this time by

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

''The Benny Hill Show''

Darvey made her first appearance on ''The Benny Hill Show'' on 7 February 1974, and became an instant hit with fans. Her self-designed, often

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

-defying

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

s became as famous as her show-stopping performances. While she sang such

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

music standards as " Sway", " Quizás, Quizás, Quizás", and "

Perfidia "Perfidia" (Spanish for "perfidy", meaning ''faithlessness'', ''treachery'' or ''betrayal'') is a 1939 Spanish-language song written by Mexican composer and arranger Alberto Domínguez (1906–1975). The song is sung from the perspective ...

" on the show, perhaps her most famous number was a four-song medley fronted by "It's Nice to Go Trav'lin'" (which Frank Sinatra recorded on his 1957 album '' Come Fly with Me''), and also featuring a rendition of Maurice Chevalier's "Valentine". In the nearly four-minute number, which she sang in English, French and Spanish, Darvey wore a total of four costumes, including as a

belly dance Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...

r. She was also known for the "Continental Cabaret" sketch which she performed with Hill and regular

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

Jackie Wright, and which featured a gag involving the word "

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" ( ) is a song and single from the 1964 Disney musical film ''Mary Poppins''. It was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It also appears in the 2004 stage show ver ...

". She participated in other sketches, including as Hill's girlfriend in a gender-reverse

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of the 1956 film ''

Baby Doll ''Baby Doll'' is a 1956 American dramatic black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play '' ...

'', repeating a sketch that Hill had performed in 1965 with Elaine Taylor. In total, Darvey appeared on the show five times, the last being on 26 January 1977.

Life after ''Benny Hill''

Darvey parlayed her popularity from ''The Benny Hill Show'' to appearances on the

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

''Quick on the Draw'' and the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

'' ...And Mother Makes Five'', and a role in the 1975 film ''

Carry On Behind ''Carry On Behind'' is a 1975 British comedy film, the 27th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It was the first entry in the series not to be scripted by Talbot Rothwell since ''Carry On Cruising'' 13 years previousl ...

''. In the immediate years after her last Hill show appearance, Darvey travelled the world with her

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

act, with her then-husband, Terry Gittings (former drummer for

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...

). For a time in the early 1980s, she was based in Miami Beach, Florida, where by then ''The Benny Hill Show'' had become famous in the United States through

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

. Their marriage ended in divorce a few years later, and Diana later ended up back in England where, at one point, she ran a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Bodicote Bodicote is a village and civil parish about south of the centre of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,126. History Bodicote was made a separate civil and Church of England parish in 1855. Until the ...

, Oxfordshire.Profile
knowhere.co.uk; accessed 20 August 2015.

Death

In 1995, Darvey married for a second time, to Ralph Barker. She died on 11 April 2000, ten days before her 55th birthday, after a fall at her home.

References

*"Benny Brings Home the Beauty", ''

TV Times ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...

'', 25 April 1974, pp. 18–19. *"Diana Stages a Daring Hold-Up", ''

'', 11 November 1976, p. 34. *"From Benny Hill to Cabaret", ''The British Tourist'' (South Florida), July 1982, p. 14. *Obituary in ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'', 20 April 2000.
Obituary
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 27 May 2000.

External links

*
Benny's Place tribute to Diana DarveyDiana Darvey (feat. Benny Hill & Jackie Wrigh) - The Benny Hill Show, 1977
youtube.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Darvey, Diana 1945 births 2000 deaths English female dancers English television actresses Butlins Redcoats People from Cheadle, Greater Manchester 20th-century British actresses 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers 20th-century British businesspeople