Barry Frederick Howard (9 July 1937 – 28 April 2016) was an English

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. 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 Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. While completing his

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, 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 A drama school, stage school, or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or Academic department, department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the drama section at the Juilliard School) that ...

. Howard appeared in ''

Terry and June ''Terry and June'' is a BBC television sitcom, broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The show was largely a reworking of '' Happy Ever After'', and starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-aged, middle-class suburban couple, Terry and J ...

'', '' 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 Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', in its 2009 two-part Christmas special, as driver of the mini-bus containing the old age pensioners' group seeking the Doctor.
In 2012, Howard appeared in the fifth series of the BBC Radio 4 comedy '' Fags, Mags and Bags'' as Frank Butcher. In 2015, he provided the voice of the lead character in ITV's sitcom ''Mr Snufflesworth'', a live action comedy starring a

dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: 'badger dog'), also known as the wiener dog or sausage dog, badger dog, doxen and doxie, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, with varie ...

dog who lives in South London. Howard was also a stage actor, and was half of one of the most celebrated Ugly Sister acts in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

regularly appearing opposite

John Inman Frederick John Inman (28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007) was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in ''Are You Being Served?'', a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and the spin-off series ''Grace and Favour.'' He ...

Death

Howard died from

blood cancer Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are al ...

, aged 78, on 28 April 2016, at his home in

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Television roles

* Ghost Squad as Bartender * You Must Be Joking! as car salesman * His Favourite Family *

ITV Play ITV Play was a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was devoted exclusively to phone-in quiz show programmes, expanding upon ITV1 and ITV2's late-night quiz programmes such as ...

as Ugly Sister *

as Cochran's *'' Hi-de-Hi!'' as Barry Stuart-Hargreaves * You Rang, M'Lord? as Count Zarkhov *'' The House of Windsor'' as Danny Jackson * Dad as Mr Nigel *''Open Casket'' as Geoffrey * Beautiful People as Monsieur Antoine *

as Oliver Barnes

References

External links

*
Obituary - BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Barry 1937 births 2016 deaths Male actors from Nottingham English male stage actors English male television actors Deaths from blood cancer in England Royal Navy sailors 20th-century Royal Navy personnel Military personnel from Nottingham