The comedian and actor Roy Hudd has died, aged 83. Best known for presenting the Roy Hudd Show and BBC Radio 2’s The News Huddlines between 1975 and 2001, he also starred in Coronation Street.
His agent said in a statement on Monday: ““We are sad to announce the passing of the much-loved and amazingly talented Roy Hudd OBE.
After a short illness, Roy passed away peacefully on the afternoon of Sunday the 15th of March, with his wife, Debbie, at his side. The family would ask you to respect their privacy at this very sad time.”
Born in south London in 1936, Hudd’s interest in entertaining was sparked by his grandmother, who regularly took him to Croydon’s Empire Theatre with her pension money. In 2016 he recalled a visit in an interview with the Guardian: “I remember seeing Dick Whittington there and then impersonating a cat for the next fortnight – lapping my milk from a saucer, taking my meals under the kitchen table, on all fours”. He began his comedy career in the 1950s, peforming as The Peculiar Person, and later worked as a Butlin’s redcoat in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, where he worked alongside Cliff Richard and Dave Allen.
However, it was on TV during the “satire boom” that Hudd came to prominence. First appearing on the David Frost-fronted show Not So Much a Programme on the BBC, he made his name on television in the 60s in sketch shows including The Illustrated Weekly Hudd and The Roy Hudd show. On Radio 2, he hosted The News Huddlines, a satirical sketch show that also featured June Whitfield and Chris Emmett.
Between 2002 and 2003, he starred in the ITV soap Coronation Street as the undertaker Archie Shuttleworth, a love interest for two longstanding characters, Blanche and Audrey. Hudd returned for occasional guest appearances until the character’s death in 2018. He also appeared in Call the Midwife, Midsomer Murders and Broadchurch.
As well as stage, variety and pantomime roles, Hudd was a music hall expert, writing several books on the Victorian music tradition, re-recording old music hall songs and appearing in the TV show The Good Old Days. As president of the British Music Hall Society from 1992 until his death, he chose the genre as his specialist subject when he appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in 2014. In January, it was announced he was to give more than 20,000 song sheets and posters to the University of Kent.
The comedy writer Simon Blackwell, who began his career on The News Huddlines, described Hudd on Twitter as “a lovely bloke, a great comedian, excellent straight actor. And a comedy historian too … He was a total joy to write for.” The actor and writer Mark Gatiss who worked with Hudd on the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), described him as “one of those joyous people who feel like they’ve been with us for ever”, while Sandi Toksvig added that he was “a comic genius but more than that he was one of the nicest people in show business. At least the heavens will be rocking with laughter”.
Hudd is survived by his second wife Debbie, and his son Max, from his first marriage.
• This article was amended on 17 March 2020 because an earlier version included “That Was the Week That Was on ITV” as one of the first shows Roy Hudd appeared on. However, That Was The Week That Was was on BBC, not ITV, and Hudd never appeared on it.
