Redcoats Who Made The Big Time Back

Roy Hudd

Written by Rocky Mason

Roy Hudd was born in Croydon in 1936. His father was a carpenter and Roy attended Tavistock Secondary Modern School, Croydon.

Roy became a Butlin Redcoat at Clacton in 1958 and clearly remembers the camps 'opening' after being closed for the winter and the many jobs that had to be done getting it ready for the first weeks campers. Roy has always said he loved the Butlin way of life and his time spent as a Redcoat.

He first appeared on radio in 1959 on the "Workers Playtime Show" and is now best know for his very long-running BBC Radio 2s 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 Stories" produced at Pebble Mill.

Roy starred in the title role of "The Newly Discovered Case Book of Sherlock Holmes" in 1999 and this followed with "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" in 2002. He has appeared many times in acting roles and recently as the undertaker Archie Shuttleworth in "Coronation Street".

He has appeared in countless pantomimes and variety shows and starred as Fagin in Lionel Bart's musical "Oliver". In 2008 he played the Wizard in the production "The Wizard of Oz" at London's Royal Festival Hall.

Roy has written several books on music hall, and appeared in the music hall show "The Good Old Days" He is seen by broadcasters as an authority on the subject and is the long standing President of The British Music Hall Society. He has appeared in the films "The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins" and "Up Pompeii".

Roy is known as an authority on the comedian Max Wall and is admired for his immaculate impersonation of him. He is the President of the Max Miller Appreciation Society.

He was awarded the OBE in the Queen's 2003 New Years Honours List. Roy was also awarded the "Best Actor In a Musical" The Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for his Bud Flanagan in "Underneath the Arches"

Roy is a prolific writer who has written many best sellers.

He has done a great deal of charity work and has 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 Past King Rat in the show business charity The Grand Order of Water Rats.

All in all quite a curriculum vitae for a former Butlin Redcoat.