Very sad news - the effevescent Miss Ruth Madoc has departed for Fabulon.
A stalwart of comedy and light entertainment for years, it was (of course) for her role as the icon of the Yellowcoats, the eternally-fustrated "Gladys Pugh" in Hi-de-Hi that we (and the whole of the UK) loved her the most...
However, one of our most-loved (and most-quoted) sketches from the entire run of Little Britain was when Miss Madoc appeared as "Dafydd"'s mother!
A tour-de-force.
We'll miss her.
RIP, Ruth Madoc (born Ruth Llewellyn, 16th April 1943 – 9th December 2022)
Well, that's one thing I'm definitely NOT doing on a Sunday evening!
ReplyDeleteRIP, 'Gladys'
P.S. Ruth Madoc was born in Norwich, and is (or, was, rather) the aunt (by marriage) of one of my best friends.
Oh, there's lovely, innit - "Auntie Ruth from Llansamlet's coming to tea"... Jx
DeletePS How bizarre that she should have been born in Norwich! On researching her, it seems that her parents did a lot of travelling for work; and she was largely brought up by her Nana in Swansea.
Will have to check out Hi-de-Hi.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those "very British" sitcoms, that I am sure never made it "across the pond" despite being one of the biggest telly shows here throughout the 80s. Did America even have "holiday camps", I wonder? Regardless, it's very silly, and very funny on occasions. Jx
DeleteI spent a lot of time in England through the 70s but not the 80s. This one didn't make it across as far as I know. I don’t think we ever called them holiday camps in the States. I didn’t know the term until The Who’s “Tommy” and the Uncle Ernie song.
DeleteHoliday camps emerged here out of the austerity years after WWII, as far as I can gather. The British working classes had very limited spending-power, and certainly didn't travel abroad in great numbers until "package holidays" began to become affordable in the 70s, so a chance to have an "all-in", entertainment-included holiday in a purpose-built (and cheap) family-friendly resort such as these was an incredibly popular choice.
DeleteWe went to holiday camps when I was a kid, and I remember having loads of fun. Simpler times. Jx
Ruth was wonderful in Hi-di-Hi - all that passion for the camp commanders!
ReplyDeleteI loved Pontin's when I was a kid - we were divided into two tribes for games, etc - either Embassy or Castella. I wish I still had my Embassy badge.
Sx
I only have vague memories of the "camp entertainment", but I do remember being in awe at seeing Ray Reardon doing a demonstration of his snooker skills. My earliest "brush with celebrity" 😊 Jx
DeleteI remember that Little Britain bit where Daffyd came out to his parents; I hadn't realized the actor playing his mother was such an institution.
ReplyDeleteI think the period you described as the rise of holiday camps in England was when road trips became such a big deal here.
Road trips here mainly meant being bundled into the back of my dad's Austin Princess and driving about an hour or so to sit on a windy beach with real sand in the sandwiches. Road trips in America, I imagine, are somewhat lengthier - don't forget that Britain is only about the size of California. Jx
DeleteA truly sad loss of a lovely lady and great talent not just in comedy but also in West-end Musical theatre.
ReplyDeleteAnd Panto, of course! Jx
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