Roy Hudd (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020)
Early life
Hudd was born in
Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née Barham) and Harry Hudd.
[GRO: June 1936 2a 883 Croydon – Roy Hudd, mmn = Barham] His father was a carpenter who left the family shortly after the Second World War, and his mother, who had a history of mental health problems, committed suicide by gas when Hudd was nine years old. Hudd was primarily brought up by his grandmother, and attended Tavistock Secondary Modern School in Croydon and Croydon Secondary Technical School. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Force, he studied commercial art at the Regent Street Polytechnic. He then worked as a messenger for an advertising agency, as a
window dresser, and as a commercial artist, working under
Harry Beck.
He made his professional debut as a comedian at the Streatham Hill Theatre on 27 October 1957, in a show in aid of the Sir Philip Game Boys' Club, of which he had been a member.
Career
Radio
Although Hudd and Kay had made a brief appearance as "discoveries" on the BBC's
In Town Tonight in 1958,
Hudd made his solo debut on radio in 1959 on
Workers' Playtime. His BBC Radio 2 satirical series
The News Huddlines ran from 1975 to 2001.
His other radio credits include playing Max Quordlepleen, the host at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, in the original radio series of
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978),
(1994–95),
(1999–2000)
and
Like They've Never Been Gone (1999–2002).
Television
Hudd started to work in television in the mid-1960s in sketch series such as
The Illustrated Weekly Hudd and
The Roy Hudd Show. His acting roles included the
Dennis Potter series
Lipstick on Your Collar, for which he received critical praise, and
Karaoke.
In the mid 1990s, he appeared in two series of
Common As Muck, a drama about a group of refuse collectors, alongside
Edward Woodward.
In 2000, Hudd appeared as neighbour Mr Smedley in an episode of
One Foot in the Grave.
From 2002 to 2003, he appeared as the undertaker Archie Shuttleworth in the ITV soap opera
Coronation Street and subsequently returned for guest appearances in 2006 and 2010; the character died offscreen in December 2018. He also starred in the ITV drama
The Quest, alongside Sir
David Jason and
Hywel Bennett, from 2002 to 2004. In 2007, he appeared in episodes of
New Tricks,
Casualty (and again in July 2019) and
The Last Detective. In 2010, he appeared in BBC dramas
Missing and
Ashes to Ashes,
as well as two episodes of
Just William.
In 2012, he appeared in an episode of the BBC drama Call the Midwife. In 2014, he appeared in episodes of Midsomer Murders, and Holby City.
Theatre
Hudd appeared in many
pantomime and variety performances. In 1977 he starred as
Fagin in the West End revival of
Lionel Bart's musical
Oliver! at the
Albery Theatre and, in 1982, he played
Bud Flanagan in
Underneath the Arches at the Prince of Wales Theatre, for which he won a Society of West End Theatre Award. In 2000, he starred in a musical version of
Hard Times at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
In May 2008 Hudd appeared as Njegus in the English National Opera production of
The Merry Widow at the
London Coliseum.
[Kennedy, Michael. Review - The Merry Widow, English National Opera at the London Coliseum, May 1. Opera, July 2008, Vol.59 No.7, p830-832.] and the same year he played the part of the Wizard in a production of
The Wizard of Oz at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Hudd played Tom Oakley in
Goodnight Mister Tom at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds in 2018.
This was Hudd's local theatre and was described as "a theatre he absolutely loved."
by his wife Debbie. In 2019, he toured the UK in a production of
Oscar Wilde's play
A Woman of No Importance alongside
Liza Goddard and
Isla Blair.
Music hall
Hudd wrote several books on
music hall, re-recorded music hall records, and appeared in the music hall revival show
The Good Old Days. He was seen by broadcasters as an authority on the subject and was the longstanding President of the British Music Hall Society.
His CD,
Mirth, Magic and Melodrama consists of a collection of classic
from the music hall days, including
The Pig and
The Lion and Albert, first recorded by
Stanley Holloway. For
Celebrity Mastermind, broadcast in January 2014, Hudd answered questions on the specialist subject of music hall comedian
Dan Leno.
He was an authority on the comedian Max Miller and was known for his impersonation of Miller. He appeared as his hero in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio play Pier Pressure in 2006. He was President of the Max Miller Appreciation Society.[ Maxmiller.org ]
Charity work
Hudd had a long association with the
Bristol Hospital Broadcasting Service, where he was considered an honorary member. In 1994, he officially opened their current studios in the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He was also a past King Rat of the show business charity the Grand Order of Water Rats
in 1989 and 2000.
In addition to this, he was the first Honorary President of Sandwell Hospital Radio in West Bromwich for a period of ten years, visiting the studios, members and patients whenever he was appearing in the West Midlands.
Personal life and death
Hudd was married to Ann Lambert in 1961; they divorced in 1983. He married Debbie Flitcroft in 1988.
Hudd was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours List for services to entertainment.
On 29 November 2010, Hudd was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Westminster; he studied commercial art there when it was the Regent Street Polytechnic.
Hudd died in Ipswich Hospital on 15 March 2020, at the age of 83, following a short illness.
Filmography
|
|
| 1968 | The Blood Beast Terror | Smiler | |
| 1971 | Up Pompeii | Nero's M.C. | |
| The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins | Fisherman | (segment "Avarice") |
| 1972 | Up the Chastity Belt | Nick the Pick | |
| The Alf Garnett Saga | Milkman | |
| 1973 | An Acre of Seats in a Garden of Dreams | Narrator | |
| 1999 | A Kind of Hush | Chef | |
| 2000 | Purely Belter | Mr Sewell | |
| 2005 | Jack, the Last Victim | Sir Geoffrey | |
| 2014 | Robot Overlords | Morse Code Martin | |
| 2018 | Patrick | Eric the Caretaker | |
Bibliography
Hudd books began to be published in 1971:
-
Joke Book (Mini-ha-ha Books) by Roy Hudd (Paperback – 28 May 1971)
-
Music Hall (Picturefile) by Roy Hudd (Paperback – 4 November 1976)
-
The News Huddlines by Roy Hudd and Illustrated (Paperback – 1 January 1980)
-
Beautiful Dreamer: A musical melodrama based on the life and songs of Stephen Collins Foster by Roy Hudd (Unknown Binding – 1981)
-
Underneath the Arches by Patrick, Glanville, Brian, Hudd, Roy Garland (Paperback – 1982)
-
Underneath the Arches: Musical in Two Acts by Patrick Garland, Brian Glanville, and Roy Hudd (Paperback – 1984)
-
That's Entertainment: Vol.1 by Roy Hudd, etc. (Paperback – 1 December 1992)
-
Roy Hudd's Book of Music-hall, Variety and Showbiz Anecdotes by Roy Hudd (Hardcover – October 1993)
-
Roy Hudd's Huddline Annual by Roy Hudd and Tony Hare (Hardcover – October 1994)
-
I Say, I Say, I Say: Johnners' Choice of Jokes to Keep You Laughing by Brian Johnston and Roy Hudd (Paperback – 4 September 1995)
-
The Pantomime Book by Paul Harris and Roy Hudd (Paperback – August 1996)
-
Look Back with Laughter. Volume Three by Mike Craig, Dame Thora Hird, and Roy Hudd (Paperback – 1998)
-
Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts: A Who Was Who of Light Entertainment, 1945–60 by Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin (Paperback – 18 November 1998)
-
Roy Hudd's Book of Music-hall, Variety and Showbiz Anecdotes by Roy Hudd (Paperback – 30 October 1998)
-
The Pantomime Book: The Only Known Collection of Pantomime Jokes and Sketches in Captivity by Paul Harris and Roy Hudd (Paperback – 31 October 2001)
-
Twice Nightly by Roy Hudd (Hardcover – October 2007)
-
The Pantomime Book by Roy Hudd and Paul Harris (Paperback – 15 September 2008)
-
A Fart in a Colander: The Autobiography by Roy Hudd (Hardcover – 1 October 2009)
-
A Fart in a Colander: The Autobiography by Roy Hudd (Hardcover – 1 October 2009),
Notes
External links
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Roy Hudd at the British Film Institute
