Roy Hudd Biography

Roy Hudd, OBE (born 16 May 1936 in Croydon) is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment.

Early life

His father was a carpenter and he attended Tavistock Secondary Modern School, Croydon and Croydon Secondary Technical School. His jobs then included a messenger for an advertising agency, window dresser and commercial artist. In 1958 he took a summer job as a Redcoat at Butlins, Clacton working alongside Cliff Richard. From the Daily Mail: Roy and Debbie met nearly 30 years ago in panto in Nottingham. Debbie, a dancer, now directs panto. Roy was already divorced from his first wife, Ann, with whom he has a 48-year-old son, Max, a stage manager. Roy also has a 15-year old Granddaughter, Emma. Roy and Debbie married in 1988. 'Debbie is 22 years younger than me, it's amazing, people never picked up on that. It never bothered us.' They have no children. 'We tried and tried, but we didn't get lucky,' says Roy.

Radio

Hudd first appeared on radio in 1959 on the Workers' Playtime show and he is best known for his very long-running BBC Radio 2 series The News Huddlines. His acting talent found a new outlet in the 1970s when he was chosen as the reader for Radio Four's 'Morning Story' produced at BBC Pebble Mill by David Shute. He starred in the title role in The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes in 1999, and has also given his voice to various roles in the comedic historical series Crowned Hudds (1994-1995) and to the roles of Max Quordlepleen in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and James Phillimore in The Singular Inheritance of Miss Gloria Wilson, an original Sherlock Holmes radio play in the series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2002).

Television

He has appeared on TV variety shows and his acting roles include the Dennis Potter series Lipstick on Your Collar, for which he received critical praise, and Karaoke. In 1966 and 1967 he had his own comedy sketch series, The Illustrated Weekly Hudd. In the mid 1990s he appeared in two series of Common As Muck, the story of a group of bin men (refuse collectors), alongside Edward Woodward.

He has recently appeared as the undertaker Archie Shuttleworth in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and in the Hollyoaks spin-off, In the City. He will next be seen on TV in episodes of New Tricks and Casualty. And on Friday 30 April Roy went back in time to the 1980s in the BBC TV programme Ashes to Ashes, as Frank Hardwick.

He appeared as Jack Croft in series 2 of BBC One show Missing and as Joe Collet in the BBC One drama Call the Midwife Episode 3 aired in January 2012.

Stage appearances

Hudd has appeared in many pantomime and variety performances. In the 1980s Roy Hudd starred as Fagin in the revival of Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! at the Albery Theatre, London and the musical version of Hard Times at the Haymarket Theatre with Brian Blessed. In 2004 he launched a new one man show "All My Own Work". It premiered during the National Music Hall and Variety Festival at The Playhouse in Weston-super-Mare and then continued to tour around the UK.

In 2008, he played the part of the Wizard in a production of the Wizard of Oz at London's Royal Festival Hall.

Music hall

Hudd has written several books on music hall, re-recorded music hall records and appeared in the music hall revival show The Good Old Days. He is seen by broadcasters as an authority on the subject and is the longstanding President of the British Music Hall Society. His CD, Mirth, Magic and Melodrama consists of a collection of classic monologues from the music hall days, including The Pig and The Lion and Albert, first recorded by Stanley Holloway.

Filmography

• The Blood Beast Terror (1968)
• Up the Chastity Belt (1971)
• Up Pompeii (1971)
• The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) ("Avarice" segment)
• The Alf Garnett Saga (1972)
• Enid Blyton's Enchanted Lands (1997) (Saucepan Man) (voice)
• Purely Belter (2000)

Max Miller

He is an authority on the comedian Max Miller and is known for his impersonation of him. He appeared as his hero in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio play Pier Pressure in 2006. He is President of the Max Miller Appreciation Society.

Charity work

He has also had a long association with the Bristol Hospital Broadcasting Service, where he is considered an honorary member. In 1994 he officially opened their current studios in the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He is also a Past King Rat of the show business charity the Grand Order of Water Rats.

Honours

Hudd was awarded an OBE in the 2004 New Year Honours List. In 1983 (1982 season), he was awarded the "Best Actor in a Musical" Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for his role in Underneath the Arches, as Bud Flanagan. According to Hudd, Bud Flanagan had stated shortly before his death that he considered Hudd to be the best choice to star in a dramatisation of Flanagan's life. On 29 November 2010, Roy was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Westminster, where he had once studied commercial art at a time when the institution was known as the "Regent Street Polytechnic".

Bibliography

• Joke Book (Mini-ha-ha Books) by Roy Hudd (Paperback " 28 May 1971)
• Music Hall (Picturefile) by Roy Hudd (Paperback " 4 Nov 1976)
• The News Huddlines by Roy Hudd and Illustrated (Paperback " 1 Jan 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 and etc. (Paperback " 1 Dec 1992)
• Roy Hudd's Book of Music-hall, Variety and Showbiz Anecdotes by Roy Hudd (Hardcover " Oct 1993)
• Roy Hudd's Book of Music-Hall, Variety and Showbiz Anecdotes by Hudd (Roy) (Paperback " 1 Jan 1994)
• Roy Hudd's Huddline Annual by Roy Hudd and Tony Hare (Hardcover " Oct 1994)
• I Say, I Say, I Say: Johnners' Choice of Jokes to Keep You Laughing by Brian Johnston and Roy Hudd (Paperback " 4 Sep 1995)
• The Pantomime Book by Paul Harris and Roy Hudd (Paperback " Aug 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 Nov 1998)
• Roy Hudd's Book of Music-hall, Variety and Showbiz Anecdotes by Roy Hudd (Paperback " 30 Oct 1998)
• The Pantomime Book: The Only Known Collection of Pantomime Jokes and Sketches in Captivity by Paul Harris and Roy Hudd (Paperback " 31 Oct 2001)
• Twice Nightly by Roy Hudd (Hardcover " Oct 2007)
• The Pantomime Book by Roy Hudd and Paul Harris (Paperback " 15 Sep 2008)
• A Fart in a Colander: The Autobiography by Roy Hudd (Hardcover " 1 Oct 2009)