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Hi-de-Hi
''Hi-de-Hi!'' is a British sitcom created by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and produced for the BBC. The programme initially began with a pilot on 1 January 1980 and aired for nine series between 26 February 1981 and 30 January 1988, and starred Paul Shane, Su Pollard, Jeffrey Holland, Ruth Madoc and Simon Cadell. Inspired by Perry's time serving as a Redcoat at Butlin's, the series takes place within the fictional Maplins holiday camp in Essex towards the end of the traditional British holiday period of the 1950s. The episodes themselves focus on the lives of the camp's entertainers and staff, who frequently greet campers with the titular phrase "Hi-de-Hi!", and consist mostly of struggling actors, comedians, wannabe stars, and has-been entertainers. The programme proved popular from its launch, gaining large audiences during its broadcast; its popularity helped it to win a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In a 2008 poll on Channel 4, ''Hi-de-Hi!'' was voted the 35th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Su Pollard
Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard (born 7 November 1949) is a British actress, singer, songwriter and author whose career has spanned over 50 years. Pollard is most known for her role in the sitcom '' Hi-de-Hi!'' She also appeared in the sitcoms '' You Rang, M'Lord?'' and '' Oh, Doctor Beeching!'' Pollard has appeared in over 35 stage plays and musicals, as well as over 40 pantomimes. As a singer, she scored a UK Singles Chart number two hit with the song "Starting Together" in 1986, and also released an album, ''Su''. She has also written a book, ''Hearts and Showers''. Early life and education Pollard was born in Nottingham, the eldest daughter of Don and Hilda Pollard. Her interest in acting began at the age of six when she played an angel in a school nativity play. She attended Berridge Road School ( Hyson Green) and Peveril Bilateral School, Robin's Wood Road (now Nottingham Girls' Academy). After leaving school at the age of 16, she got a job at the Tennant Rubber Company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Madoc
Ruth Madoc (born Margaret Ruth Llewellyn Baker; 16 April 1943 – 9 December 2022) was a British actress who had a career on stage and screen spanning over 60 years. She was best known for her role as Gladys Pugh in the BBC television comedy '' Hi-de-Hi!'' (1980–1988), for which she received a BAFTA TV award nomination for Best Light Entertainment Performance. Early life and education Madoc was born Margaret Ruth Llewellyn Baker on 16 April 1943 in Norwich, daughter of George Baker and Iris (née Williams), who worked in healthcare, her father as an administrator and her mother as a nurse. They ran a "poor law" institution for people with severe learning difficulties. Her parents travelled around Britain for much of her childhood, and she was brought up by her Welsh grandmother Etta Williams and her English grandfather at Llansamlet in Swansea. She later trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Career In 1971, Madoc played Fruma Sarah in the film ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Perry
James Perry (20 September 1923 – 23 October 2016) was an English scriptwriter and actor. He devised and co-wrote the BBC sitcoms ''Dad's Army'' (1968–1977), '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' (1974–1981), '' Hi-de-Hi!'' (1980–1988) and '' You Rang, M'Lord?'' (1988–1993), all with David Croft. Perry co-wrote the theme tune of ''Dad's Army'', "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?" along with Derek Taverner, for which Perry received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in 1971. Early life Perry was born in Barnes, Surrey on 20 September 1923.Simon Morgan-Russell, "Perry, James (Jimmy) (1923–2016)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 202available online Retrieved 25 August 2020. His father, Arthur, was an antiques dealer, whose shop was in South Kensington, London. He was a founder of the British Antique Dealers' Association. His son was educated at two independent schools, Colet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Shane
Paul Shane (19 June 1940 – 16 May 2013) was a British actor and comedian. He was known for his television work, in particular for playing Ted Bovis in the 1980s BBC sitcom ''Hi-de-Hi!''. Early life Shane was born on 19 June 1940 as George Frederick Speight, in Thrybergh, near Rotherham, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. After leaving school in 1955, he was a miner at Silverwood Colliery until he suffered double Spinal disc herniation, herniated discs after slipping on soap in the pithead baths in 1967, being pensioned from the coal mines as a result. Two years later he became a professional entertainer. He already had ten years' experience as a part-time entertainer in pubs and clubs in south Yorkshire. Career Shane's first appearance, as a singer, was at the Grafton pub — now demolished — in St Ann's Road, Rotherham. His first club booking was at St Ann's Club in Rotherham, for 30 shillings. His transformation from singer to comedian was gradual, starting with his versi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Sitcom
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-cameras were first used in the US by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball for their American show ''I Love Lucy'' in 1951 and the system was adopted in the UK. Several are made almost entirely on location (for example, '' Last of the Summer Wine'') and shown to a studio audience prior to final post-production to record genuine laughter. In contrast to the American team writing system, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's huge successes were of such quality that they became the paradigm for British sitcom writing. By the time the television set had become a common part of home furnishing, sitcoms were significant expressions of everyday life and were often a window on the times of enormous social changes in the British class system and its conflicts and prejud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeffrey Holland (actor)
Jeffrey Holland (born Jeffrey Michael Parkes, 17 July 1946) is a British actor from Walsall, England, who is well known for roles in television sitcoms, playing comic Spike Dixon at the 'Maplin's holiday camp' in ''Hi-de-Hi!'', as well as BBC Radio comedy, including ''Week Ending''. He also played leading roles in the sitcoms '' You Rang, M'Lord?'' and ''Oh, Doctor Beeching!''. Holland was a major part of the David Croft repertoire. Early life Born in Walsall, he was educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall. Holland joined an amateur theatre company and soon found that he had a talent for comedy, but despite this he could not pursue a career in comedy until after he left home. He has said that "my father died when I was 14, so right after leaving school at 16 I secured a job to earn money to help my mother. I worked at a wine merchant's and an office in Walsall, where I was brought up". After leaving home Holland trained at Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Croft (TV Producer)
Major David John Croft (born David John Andrew Sharland; 7 September 1922 – 27 September 2011) was an English television comedy screenwriter, producer and director. He produced and wrote a string of BBC sitcoms with partners Jimmy Perry and Jeremy Lloyd, including ''Dad's Army'', ''Are You Being Served?'', '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', '' Hi-de-Hi!'' and '''Allo 'Allo!'' Early life Croft was born into a show business family: his father, Reginald Sharland (1886–1944), had a successful career as a radio actor in Hollywood, and his mother, Annie Croft (1896–1959), was a famous stage actress who had starred in the 1927 silent film ''On With The Dance,'' she was also the first woman to own a West End theatre company. His first public appearance was at the age of seven, when he was seen in a commercial which aired in cinemas. After that, his acting career in films "began and ended" with his uncredited appearance as Perkins in the film ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939). The family l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Howard
Barry Frederick Howard (9 July 1937 – 28 April 2016) was an English actor. He was best known for his role as Barry Stuart-Hargreaves in the first seven series of the long-running BBC sitcom '' Hi-de-Hi!'', in which his deadpan comedy style and classic facial expressions made him a popular character. Life and career Howard was born in Nottingham. While completing his national service in the Royal Navy, Howard found himself wanting to train for the theatre at the Birmingham Theatre School. Unable to gain a grant from the local authority, he worked for almost two years at the Alexandra Theatre in a backstage role to fund his place at drama school. Howard appeared in ''Terry and June'', '' You Rang, M'Lord?'', ''The House of Windsor'' and '' Dad'', in addition to '' Hi-de-Hi!'' In 2004, Howard played the character of Geoffrey in the short film ''Open Casket''. In November 2009, he appeared in an episode of the BBC comedy ''Beautiful People''. Howard appeared in ''Doctor Wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Bowness
Felix Hervè Talbot Bowness (30 March 1922 – 13 September 2009) was a British comedy actor who was best remembered for his portrayal of the jockey Fred Quilley in the BBC sitcom ''Hi-de-Hi!.'' Biography Born in the village of Harwell, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), to French Canadian parents, he became a bantamweight boxing champion. Second World War At the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment as a signalman. At the D-Day landings in Normandy, after his landing craft was hit and sunk, he only remembered waking in a French convent. During recovery he attended a Vera Lynn concert, after which she gave him a singing lesson. Performing career Bowness returned to Britain and started performing on the comedy circuit, undertaking two summer seasons at Clacton-on-Sea Pier in 1948 and 1949. He eventually broke into films and television in the early 1960s, and supplemented his income by becoming a well used warm-up act for television shows incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diane Holland
June Diane Neiltje Holland (28 February 1930 – 24 January 2009) known as Diane (Dee-arn) Holland, was a British actress and dancer best known for playing Yvonne Stuart-Hargreaves in the television sitcom '' Hi-de-Hi!'' from 1980 to 1988. Early life Holland was born in Melbourne, Australia, and raised in England, where she lived for the rest of her life. She was partly Dutch through her paternal ancestry. On arrival in Britain, the family was hampered by her father's ill-health, the after-effects of having been gassed in the trenches during World War I. During World War II, Holland and her sister Gilda were evacuated with their school (Cone-Ripman) to Loddington Hall, in Leicestershire. Career With a love for dance as a young girl, Holland trained as a dancer at the London Cone Ripman (now ArtsEd) and enjoyed success throughout her career on stage. In her youth, Holland earned the role of principal dancer in '' Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' shows, and also perfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Cadell
Simon John Cadell (19 July 1950 – 6 March 1996) was a classically trained English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy '' Hi-de-Hi!''. Early life Born in London, he was the son of theatrical agent John Cadell, grandson of the Scottish character actress Jean Cadell, great nephew of Francis Cadell RSA, the brother of the actress Selina Cadell and commercials director Patrick Cadell, the cousin of the actor Guy Siner and son-in-law of the television producer David Croft. He was educated at The Hall School in Hampstead and Bedales School at Petersfield where his close friends included Gyles Brandreth, who remained a friend until Cadell's death. Career Cadell was a member of the National Youth Theatre and appeared with them in the 1967 production of '' Zigger Zagger''. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His first successes were found in the theatre in the mid to late 1970s. An early tel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Griffin (actor)
David Griffin (born 19 July 1943) is an English actor best known for both his roles as Squadron Leader Clive Dempster DFC in '' Hi-de-Hi!'' between 1984 and 1988 and Emmet Hawksworth in ''Keeping Up Appearances'' between 1991 and 1995. Career His first screen role was in 1960 in the film ''A French Mistress,'' and roles like Ricketts in ''The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's'' in 1961, David Ashton in ''Outbreak of Murder'' in 1962 and Mark Dennison in ''Quick Before They Catch Us'' in 1966 followed soon after and became both popular and familiar with viewers. Griffin would appear in the smash hit film ''Battle of Britain'' in 1969 as Sergeant Pilot Chris and in popular television series including ''Dixon of Dock Green'' in 1968 and then again in 1974, ''Z-Cars'' in 1970. Other television appearances include a guest role in an episode of ''Doctor Who'' (" The Sea Devils"), '''Allo 'Allo!'', ''Dixon of Dock Green'', '' Emmerdale Farm'' and two episodes of ''Ripping Yarns''. After fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |