View source for Myles Rudge

{{short description|English songwriter and scriptwriter}}

{{Infobox musical artist 
|name = Myles Rudge
|background = solo_singer
|image = 
|birth_date = {{birth date|1926|07|08|df=y}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|2007|10|10|1926|07|08|df=y}}
|origin = [[w:Bristol|Bristol]], [[w:England|England]]
|genre = [[w:folk music|Folk]], [[w:popular music]]
|occupation = Songwriter, scriptwriter
|years_active = 1960–1992
|birth_name  = Myles Peter Carpenter Rudge
}}

'''Myles Peter Carpenter Rudge ''' (8 July 1926 – 10 October 2007) was an [[w:English people|English]] [[w:songwriter|songwriter]], known for writing the lyrics for novelty songs. His songs "[[The Hole in the Ground|The Hole in the Ground]]" and "[[Right Said Fred (song)|Right Said Fred]]" were both British Top 10 chart hits in 1962,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 127}}</ref> both recorded by [[Bernard Cribbins]] to music by [[Ted Dicks]] and produced by [[George Martin]] for [[Parlophone]].<ref name="Stevens">{{cite book	
|last= Stevens	
|first= Christopher
|title= Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams
|publisher= John Murray
|year= 2010
|isbn = 978-1-84854-195-5
|page=393
}}</ref>  Another of his songs, "[[A Windmill in Old Amsterdam]]", was a hit in 1965 for [[Ronnie Hilton]], and won an [[Ivor Novello Awards|Ivor Novello Award]] in 1966 for [[List of Ivor Novello Award winners|the Year's Outstanding Novelty Composition]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theivors.com/archive/1960-1969/the-ivors-1966/|title=The Ivors 1966|website=Theivors.com|accessdate=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815072315/http://theivors.com/archive/1960-1969/the-ivors-1966/|archive-date=15 August 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Rudge was born in [[Bristol]], England, where his father was an [[advertising]] [[copywriting]] clerk.  He was educated at [[Bristol Grammar School]], where a friend and classmate was playwright [[Peter Nichols (playwright)|Peter Nichols]].<ref name="Stevens"/>  Rudge became an actor, working in at the [[Bristol Old Vic]] and [[Liverpool Playhouse]].  He served in the [[Royal Navy]] during and immediately after the [[Second World War]], from 1944 to 1947.  He joined [[RADA]] after the Navy, and worked in [[repertory]].  Tall and blond, he delivered the line "Who's for tennis?" in [[Julian Slade]]'s [[musical theatre|musical]] ''[[Salad Days (musical)|Salad Days]]'' at the [[Vaudeville Theatre]]. In 1957, he played an estate agent, in ''[[You Pay Your Money]]''.

He left acting to write comedy scripts for television and radio. With composer Ted Dicks, he wrote songs and sketches for [[West End theatre|West End]] revue shows, including ''And Another Thing'', which had a long run at the [[Fortune Theatre]] in 1960, featuring Bernard Cribbins, [[Anna Quayle]], and [[Lionel Blair]] and [[Joyce Blair]]. One of the show's songs, "Folk Song", became a hit for Cribbins, produced by George Martin, and led to them collaborating on the top 10 hits in the [[UK Singles Chart]], "The Hole in the Ground" and "Right Said Fred".<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/><ref name="Stevens"/> [[Noël Coward]] chose "The Hole in the Ground" as one of his records on ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'', saying he would pass the time on his [[desert island]] by translating it into [[French language|French]].  [[Richard Fairbrass|Richard]] and [[Fred Fairbrass]] adopted "Right Said Fred" as the name of their [[Right Said Fred|pop group]].

Rudge and Dicks also wrote the theme song for the film ''[[Carry On Screaming]]'' (1966),<ref name="Stevens"/> and worked with [[Kenneth Williams]] on an album entitled ''[[On Pleasure Bent]]'' (1967). Other songs written by Rudge were recorded by [[Chaim Topol|Topol]], [[Val Doonican]], [[Matt Monro]], [[Joan Sims]], [[Jim Dale]] and [[Petula Clark]].

Rudge wrote several scripts for BBC television in the 1960s, including scripts for the [[soap opera]] ''[[Compact (soap opera)|Compact]]''. He also wrote two series of ''[[Stop Messing About]]'' (1969), a follow-on radio comedy to ''[[Round the Horne]]'' with Kenneth Williams, and (with [[Chesney and Wolfe|Ronnie Wolfe]]) three series of ''Something to Shout About'' (1960–62), a BBC radio [[sitcom]] set in an advertising agency. With [[Vince Powell]], he co-wrote a religious sitcom ''[[Father Charlie]]'' (1982), starring [[Lionel Jeffries]] and [[Anna Quayle]]. He also wrote [[pantomime]] scripts, particularly for the [[Glasgow Citizens Theatre]]. Rudge was a volunteer for [[the Samaritans]].

==References==
{{Commons|Myles Rudge}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071030201738/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/26/db2602.xml  Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 29 October 2007]
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2865016.ece Obituary, ''The Times'', 14 November 2007]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071117040039/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3166403.ece  Obituary, ''The Independent'', 14 November 2007]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudge, Myles}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:English songwriters]]
[[Category:English television writers]]
[[Category:People educated at Bristol Grammar School]]
[[Category:Musicians from Bristol]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II]]