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	~~{{Short description\|British actress (1930–2009)}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}}~~
	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| name = Diane Holland		\| name = Diane Holland
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	==External links==		==External links==
	* {{IMDb name\|0390665}}		* {{IMDb name\|0390665}}

	~~{{authority control}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Diane}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Diane}}

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en>CatherinaDiane: /* Early life */

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Early life

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{{Short description|British actress (1930–2009)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Diane Holland
| image = Diane as Yvonne 1983.jpg
| caption = Diane Holland as Yvonne in ''[[Hi-de-Hi!]]'', 1983
| birth_name = June Diane Neiltje Holland
| birth_date = {{Birth date |1930|02|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Melbourne]], Australia<ref name="IndependentObit">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/diane-holland-actress-who-played-the-snooty-dance-instructor-in-hidehi-1666753.html Obituary], Independent.co.uk; accessed 25 October 2016.</ref>
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|01|24|1930|02|28|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Godstone]], [[Surrey]], England
| occupation = [[Dancer]] and actress
| years_active = 1949–2001
| relatives = Gillian (Gilda) Perry (sister).
}}

'''June Diane Neiltje Holland''' (28 February 1930 – 24 January 2009) known as Diane (Dee-yon) 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]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/mar/06/diane-holland-obituary Obituary for Diane Holland], theguardian.com; accessed 27 July 2018.</ref> During World War II, Holland and her sister Gilda were evacuated with their school (Cone-Ripman) to [[Loddington, Leicestershire|Loddington]] Hall, in Leicestershire.

==Career==
Finding 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 performed as principal during summer seasons in [[Monte Carlo]] and other European casino hotspots as part of an [[adagio act.]] She also performed in many [[West End theatre|West End]] productions, including ''Her Excellency'' (1949), ''Fancy Free'' (1951), ''Rocking the Town'' (1956), and TV Musical Bonanza! (1957).

Having always enjoyed acting in addition to dance, Holland also appeared in many theatre productions, later turning her attentions to television, playing the recurring role of Sarah Maynard in ''[[Crossroads (British TV series)|Crossroads]]'' from 1964 to 1970.
<ref name="IndependentObit" /> In the late 1960s she also received critical acclaim for her performance as [[Miss Amelia]] in the European premiere of ''[[The Ballad of the Sad Cafe]]'', alongside Skip Martin. During the 1970s, she frequently worked alongside comedian [[Eric Sykes]] in ''[[Big Bad Mouse]]'' (1972) [[Sykes (TV series)|''Sykes'']] and TV film ''[[The Likes of Sykes]]'' (1980). At the peak of ''Hi-de-Hi!'' in the 1980s, Holland received letters from British troops in the Falklands, with the BBC press office stating that she had become a "Forces' sweetheart", although she claimed this was a "slight exaggeration" and that it "just snowballed".<ref name=TimesOnline>{{cite web |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5747145.ece |title= Obituary: Diane Holland: actress on television show Hi-de-Hi! |work= [[The Times]] |date= 17 February 2009 |access-date=25 October 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100525023736/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5747145.ece |archive-date= 25 May 2010}}</ref>

Later in her career, Holland earned her most well-known part of ballroom dancer Yvonne Stuart-Hargreaves in ''[[Hi-de-Hi!]]'' (1980). Jimmy Perry, who co-wrote ''Hi-De-Hi!'', had married Holland's sister Gilda, and saw Holland's talent after she appeared in pantomimes and plays at [[The Watford Palace]], which he and Gilda managed together. By the time ''Hi-De-Hi!'' came into production, Holland was suffering from serious arthritis in her hip, a common plight for dancers, and the show's choreographer noted how she would arrive for rehearsals "limping badly" but during filming she "hid it very well". Holland did not appear in the summer theatre shows of ''Hi-De-Hi!'' partly due to this, and also being keen not to be [[Typecast|too heavily associated with one character]]. Prior to ''Hi-De-Hi!'', Holland appeared in ''[[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)|Tales of the Unexpected]]'' in the episode named "The Stinker", and ''Stig of the Dump'' as Mrs Fawkham-Greene. She also appeared in ''[[Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em]]'' as a [[maternity]] hospital receptionist.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/601376c36fe84034b405032a02474321|title=Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em|date=20 December 1973|work=[[The Radio Times]]|access-date=3 March 2020|issue=2615|pages=51|language=en-GB|issn=0033-8060}}</ref> She played Miss Lavant in the TV film ''The Children of Dynmouth'' (1987), and Madame Dupree in ''Lace 2'' (1985).

Following the end of ''[[Hi-de-Hi!]]'' in 1988, she appeared in [[ITV Central|Central Television]]'s comedy ''[[The Upper Hand (TV series)|The Upper Hand]]'', and in an episode of ''[[Bergerac (TV series)|Bergerac]]'' as a music teacher. In 1992–93, she played the notorious female magistrate, Celia Littlewood, who had eyes for Miss Brahms, in ''[[Grace and Favour]]'', the sequel to ''[[Are You Being Served]]''.

One of her last appearances was in one of her favourite roles as maiden aunt in ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' in [[The Royal Ballet]], [[Covent Garden]], a role she had danced for over 20 years, from 1984 to 2008. She also received critical acclaim for her role as a terminally ill patient in ''Casualty'' in 2001.

==Death==
Holland lived quietly in the village of [[Godstone]], [[Surrey]], where she died at home on 24 January 2009 at the age of 78 after contracting [[bronchial pneumonia]]. She never married or had children, and while a private person, her obituaries frequently note her being "extremely kind-hearted" and her "very dry sense of humour". Holland's agent stated that she was "a real trouper", "a joy to look after", and "extremely hard-working". The news of her death was not made public until more than three weeks later. She was survived by her younger sister, Gillian (Gilda) Perry, a former dancer, actress and theatre manager.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7894800.stm?lss "Hi-De-Hi!'s Yvonne dies aged 78"], BBC.co.uk; accessed 25 October 2016.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0390665}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Diane}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Godstone]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in England]]
[[Category:English television actresses]]
[[Category:English people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:20th-century English actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century British businesspeople]]
[[Category:Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English people of Australian descent]]

Diane Holland - Revision history

Kurt at 03:32, 18 July 2024

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>CatherinaDiane: /* Early life */