We're so sad to share with you that actor, comedian and Yours columnist Roy Hudd OBE has passed away aged 83.
According to a statement from his agent, Roy passed away peacefully on Sunday March 15 following a short illness with his wife, Debbie, by his side.
There was something about Roy Hudd that never failed to make us smile. Whether he was acting on screen or sharing his deepest thoughts with you, our readers, in the column he’s written for Yours for 23 years, he loved nothing more than to make us chuckle.
Of course, many will best remember Roy as the brilliantly talented comedian and actor with a career spanning more than 60 years. As regular readers of his column will know, Roy first discovered his passion for entertaining as a Red Coat at Butlin’s Clacton on the Essex coast, where he worked alongside the likes of Sir Cliff Richard and Dave Allen. From there he made his big break into broadcasting, firstly on radio’s Worker’s Playtime in 1959 and later on the box, with the BBC’s Not So Much A Programme and More A Way of Life, also starring David Frost and Michael Crawford. Roy went on to have a hugely varied career, from hosting BBC Radio 2’s The News Huddlines to treading the cobbles of Corrie as Archie Shuttleworth. He was the face of Quick Brew TV commercials in the Seventies, wrote and starred in the musical Under the Arches and popped up in TV shows from Broadchurch to Ashes to Ashes, Common As Muck to Casualty.
Even in later years, Roy couldn’t resist the pull of performing that he’d had all of his life and took up new projects with boyish enthusiasm, showing a zest for life and work right to the very last.
In later years Roy also indulged one of his greatest loves for the history of British music hall and excitedly filled pages of books as well as many of his columns in Yours with stories from the music hall days.
But for all that he was undeniably an entertainment icon, we will best remember Roy Hudd much more personally as our wonderful columnist. It’s a post he first took up in 1997 when he was doing a one-man show in Peterborough and was approached afterwards by then editor of Yours, Neil Patrick. Over half a pint of bitter, Neil told Roy all about the magazine and asked if Roy might consider writing a regular column. Having never been asked to write anything other than a confessional before – so as Roy put it in his own words – he said yes on the spot. So began a regular column in every issue of Yours for the next 23 years. And what a great two decades they’ve been! From the highs and lows of his career to anecdotes about old jobs and treasured mates from the past, it was clear that Roy relished the chance to let you in on a little slice of his life every fortnight. And you clearly felt the same way with many readers writing in to say how much they loved hearing what Roy was up to. On several occasions, Roy even appeared at our Yours Live events, popping up to tell stories, make everyone laugh till their bellies hurt and make friends with his most loyal readers.
As anyone who met him on those occasions will testify – as can we – Roy was genuinely one of the most charming, talented and endlessly kind men around. We were honoured to call him our columnist but more than that, our friend.
Roy, thank you for all the laughs. You will be greatly missed.