View source for Roy Hudd

{{Short description|English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host and writer}}

{{Infobox person
| name        = Roy Hudd
| honorific_suffix = [[w:Order of the British Empire|OBE]]
| image       = Roy Hudd (BBC).jpg
| caption     = 
| birth_name  =
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1936|05|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[w:Croydon]], [[w:Surrey]], England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2020|03|15|1936|05|16|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[w:Ipswich]], [[w:Suffolk]], England
| resting_place = All Saints' Church, [[w:Crowfield, Suffolk|Crowfield]], Suffolk, England 
| years_active = 1957–2020
| occupation  = {{hlist|Actor|radio personality|playwright|author}}
| spouse      = Ann Lambert (divorced)<br>{{marriage|Debbie Flitcroft|1988}}
| children    = 1 
}}
'''Roy Hudd''', [[w:Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020)<ref name=Birth>{{cite web|title=Birthday's today|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2013-5-16.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130516080004/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2013-5-16.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 16 May 2013 |publisher=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=15 May 2014|date=16 May 2013|quote=Mr Roy Hudd, actor and broadcaster, 77 }}</ref> was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of [[w:music hall|music hall]] entertainment.

== Early life ==
Hudd was born in [[w:Croydon|Croydon]] on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" ({{née}} Barham) and Harry Hudd.<ref name=Birth /><ref>GRO: June 1936 2a 883 Croydon – Roy Hudd, mmn = Barham</ref> His father was a carpenter who left the family shortly after the [[w:Second World War|Second World War]], and his mother, who had a history of mental health problems, died by suicide by gas when Hudd was 10 years old. Hudd was primarily brought up by his grandmother, and attended Tavistock Secondary Modern School in [[w:Croydon|Croydon]] and Croydon Secondary Technical School. After completing his [[w:Conscription in the United Kingdom|national service]] in the [[w:Royal Air Force|Royal Air Force]], he studied commercial art at the [[w:University of Westminster|Regent Street Polytechnic]]. He then worked as a messenger for an advertising agency, a [[w:window dresser|window dresser]] and a [[w:commercial artist|commercial artist]] working under [[w:Harry Beck|Harry Beck]].<ref>{{cite episode|title=Sandi Toksvig interviews Roy Hudd|series=Chain Reaction|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0742mqd|access-date=23 March 2016|network=BBC|station=BBC Radio 4|date=23 March 2016|series-no=11|number=5}}</ref>

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#Metropolitan Police Commissioner|Philip Game]] Boys' Club, of which he had been a member.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Newsman's Diary - Funny Men|work=Norwood News|page=10|date=25 October 1957|access-date=22 July 2019 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002308/19571025/184/0010| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref>  Initially he worked with Eddy Kay, a friend from Croydon who had also been a member of the boys' club, the two billing themselves as "the peculiar pair".<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Finsbury Park Empire|work=The Stage|page=4|date=19 March 1959|access-date=22 July 2019 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001180/19590319/037/0004| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 1958, they joined as [[Butlins Redcoats|Redcoats]] at [[Butlin's Clacton]] working alongside [[Cliff Richard]] and [[Dave Allen (comedian)|Dave Allen]].<ref name="Guard Obit">{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Hannah J. |title=TV actor and radio comedian Roy Hudd dies aged 83 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/mar/16/roy-hudd-dies-aged-83 |work=The Guardian |date=16 March 2020}}</ref>

== Radio ==
Although Hudd and Kay had made a brief appearance as 'discoveries' on the BBC's ''[[In Town Tonight]]'' in 1958,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Finsbury Park Empire|work=The Stage|page=12|date=8 May 1958|access-date=22 July 2019 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001179/19580508/157/0012| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Hudd made his solo debut on radio in 1959 on ''[[Workers' Playtime (radio programme)|Workers' Playtime]]''. His [[BBC Radio 2]] satirical series ''[[The News Huddlines]]'' ran from 1975 to 2001.<ref name=chort>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2002/01/21/2426/huddlines_cancelled|title=Huddlines cancelled|website=Chortle|access-date=15 April 2017}}</ref> 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),<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/020dae01a1354394aa50ec5ca4e97b3c |website=The Radio Times |access-date=16 March 2020 |pages=49 |date=30 March 1978}}</ref> ''Crowned Hudds'' (1994–95),<ref>{{cite web |title=Crowned Hudds |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=Crowned+Hudds#search |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref> ''[[The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes]]'' (1999–2000)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=The+Newly+Discovered+Casebook+of+Sherlock+Holmes+hudd#search |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref> and ''Like They've Never Been Gone'' (1999–2002).<ref>{{cite web |title=Like They've Never Been Gone |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=Like+They've+Never+Been+Gone+hudd&svc=9371569#search |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref>

== Television ==
Hudd broke into television in the mid-1960s in sketch series such as ''The Illustrated Weekly Hudd'' and ''The Roy Hudd Show''. His acting roles include David Furnham's The Puppet Man series for Channel 4, [[Dennis Potter]] series ''[[Lipstick on Your Collar (TV series)|Lipstick on Your Collar]]'', for which he received critical praise, and ''[[Karaoke (TV series)|Karaoke]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/profiles/roy_hudd.shtml |access-date=16 March 2020 |title=Roy Hudd |location=Comedy - Up the M4 |work=BBC}}</ref> In the mid 1990s, he appeared in two series of ''[[Common As Muck]]'', a drama about a group of refuse collectors, alongside [[Edward Woodward]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/07/common-as-muck-box-set-review-binmen |work=The Guardian |date=7 May 2015 |title=Common as Muck box set review – where there's muck there's warmhearted fun and drama |author=Caroline Rees |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref> In 2000, Hudd appeared as neighbour Mr. Smedley in one episode of ''[[One Foot in the Grave]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=One Foot in the Grave: Threatening Weather |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/022292ae9b6447939c839839a5078cfa |work=The Radio Times |date=2 November 2000 |pages=106}}</ref> From 2002 to 2003, he appeared as the undertaker [[List of Coronation Street characters (2002)#Archie Shuttleworth|Archie Shuttleworth]] in the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] soap opera ''[[Coronation Street]]''<ref name=chort /> 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 (British TV series)|The Quest]]'', alongside Sir [[David Jason]] and [[Hywel Bennett]], from 2002–2004. In 2007, he appeared in episodes of ''[[New Tricks]]'', ''[[Casualty (TV series)|Casualty]]''  (and again in July 2019) and ''[[The Last Detective]]''. In 2010, he appeared in BBC dramas ''[[Missing (2009 TV series)|Missing]]'' and ''[[Ashes to Ashes (British TV series)|Ashes to Ashes]]''.<ref name="BFI" />

In 2010, he appeared in two episodes of the television series ''[[Just William (2010 TV series)|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]]'', ''[[Law & Order: UK]]'' and ''[[Holby City]]''.<ref name="BFI" /> In December 2015, Hudd played [[Bud Flanagan]] in the BBC drama ''We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story'', about the creation of the titular long-running [[sitcom]].<ref name="BBC We’re Doomed credits">{{cite web | title= We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06t3m7t| website= [[BBC Online]] | access-date= 25 December 2015}}</ref> In 2016 he appeared in an episode of ''[[Benidorm (British TV series)|Benidorm]]''.<ref name="Radio Times January 2016">{{cite web | title= Benidorm: Series 8 - Episode 2| url= http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/dyk6gh/benidorm--series-8---episode-2| last= Mulkern | first= Patrick |date= 18 January 2016| website= [[Radio Times]] | access-date= 18 January 2016 }}</ref> In 2017, he appeared in the ITV series ''[[Broadchurch]]''.<ref name="BFI" />

== Stage appearances ==
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 (novel)|Hard Times]]'' at the [[Theatre Royal Haymarket]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.curtainup.com/hardtimeslond.html |title=Hard Times The Musical, a CurtainUp review |work=Curtainup|access-date=3 May 2015}}</ref> In 2008, he played the part of the [[Wizard of Oz (character)|Wizard]] in a production of ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' at London's [[Royal Festival Hall]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Wizard of Oz |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/sport-and-fitness/the-wizard-of-oz |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=Time Out}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Theatre review: A Woman of No Importance, King's Theatre, Edinburgh |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/theatre-review-woman-no-importance-kings-theatre-edinburgh-1405991 |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=The Scotsman |date=4 October 2019}}</ref>

== 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 (British TV series)|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.<ref name="BBC Obit">{{cite news |title=Actor and comic Roy Hudd dies aged 83 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51906543 |work=BBC News |date=16 March 2020}}</ref> His CD, ''Mirth, Magic and Melodrama'' consists of a collection of classic [[monologue]]s 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]].<ref name="Guard Obit" />

He was an authority on the comedian [[Max Miller (comedian)|Max Miller]] and was known for his impersonation of Miller. He appeared as his hero in the [[Big Finish Productions]] ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Doctor Who audio productions|audio play]] ''[[Pier Pressure (audio drama)|Pier Pressure]]'' in 2006. He was President of the Max Miller Appreciation Society.<ref>[http://www.maxmiller.org/mmas6.htm Maxmiller.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614131707/http://www.maxmiller.org/mmas6.htm |date=14 June 2009 }}</ref>

== 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gowr.net/Members/pastkingrats.html |title=Past King Rats of The Grand Order of Water Rats |publisher=Gowr.net |date=12 December 2013 |access-date=3 May 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gibbons |first1=Brett |title=Actor and comic Roy Hudddies aged 83 |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/actor-comic-roy-hudd-who-17930339 |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=birminghammail |date=16 March 2020}}</ref>

== Honours and death ==
Hudd was appointed an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[2004 New Year Honours]] List for services to entertainment.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=57155 |supp=y|pages=9–11|date=31 December 2003}}</ref> In 1983 (1982 season), he was awarded the [[Society of West End Theatre Award]] as [[Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Musical|Best Actor in a Musical]] for his role in ''Underneath the Arches'', as [[Bud Flanagan]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Laurence Olivier Awards: full list of winners 1976-2008 |url=http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/servlet/file/LOA_fullist.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=101095&ITEM_VERSION=1&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=8 |website=Official London Theatre |access-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213145841/http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/servlet/file/LOA_fullist.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=101095&ITEM_VERSION=1&COLLSPEC_ENT_ID=8 |archive-date=13 February 2012 |date=13 February 2012}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary awards 2010 {{!}} University of Westminster, London |url=https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/honorary-awards/honorary-awards-2010 |publisher=Wesminster University}}</ref>

On 16 March 2020, Hudd's agent announced his death on 15 March, aged 83, following a short illness. He died at [[Ipswich Hospital]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51906543|title=Roy Hudd, actor and comic, dies aged 83|work=BBC News|date=16 March 2020|access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref>

== Filmography ==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year<ref name="BFI">{{cite web |title=Roy Hudd |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fbed611 |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref>
! Title
! Role
! class = "unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1968
| ''[[The Blood Beast Terror]]''
| Smiler
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1971
| ''[[Up Pompeii (film)|Up Pompeii]]''
| Nero's M.C.
|
|-
| ''[[The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins]]''
| Fisherman
| (segment "Avarice")
|-
|rowspan=2|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
|<ref name="guardian_hudd">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/26/robot-overlords-film-review-ben-kingsley-gillian-anderson
|title=Robot Overlords review – spirited sci-fi with Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=26 March 2015 |author=Mike McCahill}}</ref>
|-
| 2018
| ''[[Patrick (2018 film)|Patrick]]''
| Eric the Caretaker
|
|}

== Bibliography ==
Hudd books began to be published in 1971:<ref>{{cite web |title=Roy Hudd |url=https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Roy+Hudd&fq=ap%3A%22hudd%2C+roy%22&dblist=638&qt=sort&se=yr&sd=asc&qt=sort_yr_asc#x0%253Abook-%2C%2528x0%253Abook%2Bx4%253Aprintbook%2529%2C%2528x0%253Abook%2Bx4%253Adigital%2529%2C%2528x0%253Abook%2Bx4%253Alargeprint%2529format |website=www.worldcat.org |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref>
* ''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)

== References ==
* ''A Fart in a Colander: The Autobiography'' by Roy Hudd (Hardcover – 1 October 2009), {{ISBN|978-1843174943}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{BFI|4ce2b9fbed611|Roy Hudd}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0399647|name=Roy Hudd}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/profiles/roy_hudd.shtml BBC Biography/Profile]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3357351.stm BBC – Radio comic Roy Hudd honoured with OBE]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudd, Roy}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:English male radio actors]]
[[Category:British radio personalities]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People from Croydon]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic]]
[[Category:Butlins Redcoats]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners]]
[[Category:Window dressers]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century English male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century Royal Air Force personnel]]