Roy Hudd

Roy Hudd, OBE (born 16th May 1936 died 15th March 2020) is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment.

Early Life

Hudd was born in Croydon. His father was a carpenter and he attended Tavistock Secondary Modern School in Croydon and Croydon Secondary Technical School. He then worked as a messenger for an advertising agency, a window dresser and a commercial artist working under Harry Beck. In 1958 he took a summer job as a Redcoat at Butlins, Clacton working alongside Cliff Richard and Dave Allen.

Radio

Hudd first appeared on radio in 1959 on Workers' Playtime. He remains best known for the BBC Radio 2 satirical series The News Huddlines, which ran from 1975 to 2001. His other radio credits include Crowned Hudds (1994-95), The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (1999-2000) and Like They've Never Been Gone (1999-2002). He has acted in many comedy series and dramas for BBC Radio 4.

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 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.

From 2002 to 2003 he appeared as the undertaker Archie Shuttleworth in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and has since returned for occasional guest appearances. In 2007 he appeared in episodes of New Tricks and Casualty. In 2010 he appeared in BBC dramas Missing and Ashes to Ashes.

In 2012 he appeared in an episode of the BBC drama Call the Midwife. In 2014 he appeared in episodes of Midsomer Murders, Law and Order: UK and Holby City.

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. In 2016 he appeared in an episode of Benidorm.

Stage Appearances

Hudd has 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. 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 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. For Celebrity Mastermind, broadcast on 3 January 2014, Hudd answered questions on the specialist subject of music hall comedian Dan Leno.