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Henry McGee Tribute
by William Brown

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Henry McGee (1929 - 2006)

IMDB Entry

Left: Henry McGee interviews Chow-Mein in
"At Home With Henry McGee".
Broadcast: Nov. 24, 1971.

Henry Henry McGee, longtime straight man to Benny Hill and anchor of the show's "core cast" which also consisted of Bob Todd and Jackie Wright, died on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. His age was given as 77.

Left: Henry McGee as Cliff Michelmore in the
'Holiday' sketch of March 16, 1983.

He was born in Kensington, London, with an ancestry going back as far as the 18th-century stage actress Kitty Clive; he was educated at Stonehurst and got into acting after serving in the British Navy. Early in his career, he had been in the Comédie Française, playing a spear carrier in his first role and going on to Feydeau farces; and another early role was a two-week stint in the long-running London stage play, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, about which he later commented about his having the shortest stint in the longest-running show.

Left: Henry McGee in as Mad Dog in 'The B-Team'
Broadcast: January 2, 1985.

But it was on TV that Mr. McGee made his biggest impression. There was his role as Mr. Pugh in the 1965-1970 Charlie Drake comedy series The Worker. (Benny Hill, in his March 24, 1976 "Cooking with Fanee and Jonee Claddock" sketch, actually made a reference to "Mr. Puuuuugh," which had been the catchphrase in The Worker.) There was his playing opposite Ronnie Corbett (later, one-half of The Two Ronnies) in No, That's Me Over There!, which ran on Rediffusion London in 1967 and one more series on London Weekend in 1970. There was the 1973 comedy series Up the Workers (the title of which Benny's Chow-Mein character called out at the end of the "At Home with Henry McGee" sketch from Feb. 22, 1973). There was working, on TV and/or stage, with the likes of such other figures of British comedy as Tommy Cooper, Dick Emery, Jimmy Tarbuck, Dickie Henderson, Frankie Howerd, Reg Varney (to whom Hill had once been straight man on stage in the late 1940's), Eric Sykes, and The Goodies. There was his work on drama shows such as Z Cars and The Avengers. (His last known TV work was as "Goff Helliwell" in a 2003 episode of the long-running Last of the Summer Wine.) There were roles in films such as The Pink Panther, Holiday On The Buses and Carry On Emmannuelle.

Left: Henry McGee as Johnny Dankworth from
the 'Musical Favorites' Opening.
Broadcast: April 25, 1979.

But most famously, there was his work with Benny Hill, in the last three shows Hill ever did for the BBC (on Nov. 20, 1968; Dec. 11, 1968; and Dec. 26, 1968); 45 out of the 58 hour-long comedy/variety shows Benny produced for Thames; Hill's very last hour-long comedy show, the independently-produced Benny Hill's World Tour: New York, and the documentary Benny Hill: The World's Favourite Clown. By McGee's own admission, it took him about two years to get accustomed to Mr. Hill's style of comedy (presumably, this period included the 1970-71 TBHS series on which he didn't appear, during which alternating straight man Nicholas Parsons filled the gap). But he finally fell into the rhythm of the Hill style, and from 1973 to the show's demise appeared in all but two shows (March 13, 1974 and April 21, 1976).

(TRIVIA: McGee also had a role in the 1969 movie version of The Italian Job in which Mr. Hill co-starred, but they did not have any scenes together.)

Left: Henry McGee as he appeared in the "Phone In With Ludovic Kennedy and Humphrey Bumphrey".
Broadcast: Dec. 5, 1973.

Mr. McGee - nicknamed "SuperStooge" or "Double-S" by the cast and crew - had an appearance that no-one could forget. His distinctive vocal delivery. His particular clipped appearance. His ability to convey unflappability in the face of idiocy whether coming from Fred Scuttle, Chow-Mein or various sundry characters (Irishmen, people with colds, etc.). His character roles, whether as artist managers in the Middle Ages, or bumpkin idiots, or the occasional impersonation (news broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy, radio disk jockey Kenny Everett, travel show cohort John Carter) were as memorable as his straight-man endeavors. And of course, his opening announcement: "Yes, it's The Benny Hill Show . . . "

He is the third person in this core cast in the Hill stock company (known within Hill players as "the family") to pass on, following little, bald Irishman Jackie Wright (who died in 1989) and tall, bald Bob Todd (who passed away in 1992). Not to mention The Lad Himself, Benny Hill ("The Lad Himself, Benny Hill?" "I said not to mention him!") - plus Rita Webb, Patricia Hayes and some others . . .

Jackie Wright Tribute
by William Brown

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Jackie Wright 1905 - 1989

IMDB Entry
Due to popular demand, we now present a tribute to that little man that Benny was always slapping on the back of the head, little Jackie Wright. William Brown has provided an excellent tribute to one of Benny's key members of the series. Thanks, William!

Jackie Wright as "Filbert" in "Big Poppa"
Broadcast: March 25, 1981

As much a fixture of The Benny Hill Show as Hill himself, his supporting core of Henry McGee, Bob Todd, Nicholas Parsons et al, and the Hill's Angels, was a 4' 11" bald Irishman named Jackie Wright. With his ravaged face (and pronounced - and sometimes unintelligible - Ulster-accented voice), and a shiny bald pate that regularly made him a target of head slappings from Benny and various other sundry individuals, Jackie became a legend on a par with the other cast members, with such routines as "Jackie Wright's Holiday" (in which, to save £1 on a holiday to a foreign country, he ends up on a trip to hell) and the parody of the game show Name That Tune (with Jackie as a contestant given the short shrift by Benny's smarmy game-show host, and ending up with the girl who "won") passing into legend.

Jackie Wright as Prefect in "Superteech"
Broadcast: Jan. 5, 1983.

John (Jackie) Wright was born in 1905 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of twelve children. The details of his early life are sketchy, but this much is known: Early on, he was a car-body builder in the auto manufacturing trade, and at one point was in America, upholstering Cadillacs; also spending his spare time in speakeasies playing trombone (as he would do in the March 23, 1977 "At the Streaker's Ball" number) and tap dancing. When the Depression hit, he was so poverty-stricken that he pawned his trombone and made his way back to Ireland where for the next few decades he travelled the country as a music-hall trombonist and supporting comic; during World War II he played trombone in the Belfast Home Guard.

Jackie Wright in "Yeild To The Dawn"
Broadcast: April 25, 1979.

It was in the 1930's that he became bald, which he first noticed whilst working in Canada; for a time he billed himself as "Jackie Wright, The Bald Bombshell." But it wasn't until the 1960's that he first appeared on television, initially as an extra on such shows as Z Cars. It was from his appearances on these programmes that he first came to the attention of Benny Hill, who picked his supporting players as much on the basis of their "visual value" as on their comedic skills and their ability to work with him. Mr. Wright appeared in the last three editions of TBHS to air on the BBC in 1968; on which McGee, Todd and Jenny Lee-Wright also débuted with Mr. Hill. On that final BBC series, plus Hill's first Thames series, he was billed as John Wright; but because of a few character actors already named John Wright (including one, in Britain, named John C. Wright), the "little bald guy" had his billing changed, effective with Mr. Hill's Oct. 28, 1970 special, to the more recognisable Jack Wright - although Benny would always call him "Little Jackie."

Jackie Wright in "Name That Tune?"
Broadcast: April 16, 1980.

Initially a recipient of constant - and consistent - head-tappings in silent sketches (the "Lower Tidmarsh Hospital Service" from Mr. Hill's first Thames special of Nov. 19, 1969, for example; or the first "Hotel Splendide" sketch from Feb. 4, 1970), within a few years Mr. Wright was given speaking parts on the show, with his Irish brogue becoming every bit as prominent as the head-slappings. One of the earliest showcases for Jackie in this regard was the March 29, 1973 "Baby Lover" song in the "Dalton Abbott Railway Choir" sketch, with Benny as one of the most obnoxious, front-and-center background singers in history. And not long after that, Mr. Wright would also be handling impersonations, which provided a marked contrast to Mr. Hill's. Unlike Benny who would bury himself in whoever he was playing, Jackie always sounded like Jackie regardless of who he was "impersonating" (football [soccer] legend Georgie Best, Antonio Fargas' "Huggy Bear" character from Starsky & Hutch, singer/songwriter Lynsey De Paul, Peter Falk's "Lt. Columbo," Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, or anybody from the U.S., just as a few examples). In addition, in one memorable moment on the March 23, 1977 show, the "Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like" section of the "Girls, Girls, Girls" sketch, was a reversal of the usual Hill show formula when Jackie repeatedly slapped Benny on the head! After the Dec. 17, 1975 episode, he would be moved up in casting order, not being billed lower than third in the supporting cast (with the exception of March 23, 1977 when he was credited fourth behind McGee, Rita Webb and guest Dilys Watling) for the rest of his run with the show.

Jackie Wright as Charles Aznavour from the
"Another Host of Your Favourite Stars" sketch.
Broadcast: Dec. 17, 1975.

But TBHS was by no means Mr. Wright's sole credit; during his run with the show he also appeared in the short-lived Frankie Howerd sitcom Whoops Baghdad, as well as with comedians Dick Emery and Jim Davidson; in addition, in 1975 he played an "old man" in a film called Three for All, which may explain his absence from the Sept. 24, 1975 show on which Don Estelle filled in for him (the episode was produced in March of that year). In 1978 he made a first attempt at retirement, skipping the Dec. 26, 1978 edition (on which Johnny Vyvyan, who'd appeared with Hill a few times in the 1950's and 1960's, subbed for him); but within a few months he was so bored that he asked to return and was welcomed back with the proverbial open arms. (His initial attempt at retirement would explain his absence from the filmed segments of the two 1979 shows on which he appeared in the studio segments.)

Jackie Wright as Lt. Columbo, from the
"Murder on the Oregon Express" skech.
Broadcast: March 24, 1976.

Wright was a teetotaller, as well as being an inveterate eater, tea drinker and chain-smoker (he would often show up for filming or taping with a cigarette in one hand and a packet of crisps in the other; yet he didn't seem to put on any weight, unlike Hill). As of the early 1980's, Jackie lived in a bedsitter in London for half of the year when TBHS was being produced, and the other half of the year lived in his native Belfast with his sister Lily. And after Hill's show made it into the United States in 1979, Wright became an international superstar on a par with Hill himself, to such an extent that a Jackie Wright fan club sprung up in the States, and he was receiving offers to star in his own TV show. He shared a few traits with Hill: Both never married, and they each had an apparent indifference to money, with a drawer of uncashed royalty checks for U.S. repeats sent to Jackie discovered by his sister.

Jackie Wright as Fidel Castro, from the "Bionic Baby" skech.
Broadcast: Jan. 26, 1977.

But inevitably, time caught up with little Jackie. The 1983 series was the last in which he appeared full-time. He did filmed sketches for the 1984 series and a few quickies for the first edition of same, but would be unable to participate any further due to declining health, dating back to a stomach operation after which he started feeling "poorly" (per the British vernacular); not long afterwards, he fell and broke a leg and some ribs, and not long after that, he fell and broke his hip while walking down the street; he would be in racking pain thereafter. Leftover footage dating back to filming of the 1982 series with Wright in it would be aired as late as the 1985 series, so that royalty checks would still be coming his way; but an era irrevocably came to an end with his illness-induced retirement. A few others came afterwards (such as Len Keyes, Sydney Arnold and ex-acrobat Johnny Hutch), but none with the same effects or appeal.

Jackie Wright as "Huggy Bear" from
the "Husky and Starch" sketch.
Broadcast: March 23, 1977.

Jackie Wright died after a long illness in a Belfast hospital in January of 1989 at age 83. At the time of his death, Benny Hill remarked, "He was a lovely little fella . . . I'm saddened beyond words."

Dennis Kirkland Tribute
by William Brown

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Dennis Kirkland (1942 - 2006)

IMDB Entry
Dennis Kirkland, the seventh and final producer / director of The Benny Hill Show, under whose watch the Hill's Angels first came into being, died after a brief illness on February 16, 2006 in London. He was 63 years old.

Born in North Shields, Northumberland, Kirkland started out appearing in ITV adverts as a child. His behind-the-scenes career began as a props man for Tyne Tees Television, and he had spells with the Royal Opera House and the Windmill Theatre in London prior to becoming an assistant floor manager with ATV, where he was employed at the time a certain Benny Hill was hosting three shows for the company (two editions of an Anglo-American production called Spotlight which also ran in the U.S. on the CBS network in the summer of 1967, and one Benny Hill Show on which Nicholas Parsons, Rita Webb and Bettine Le Beau all made their Hill debuts). It is believed that it was there that Mr. Hill and Mr. Kirkland first met.

When Thames started up in 1968, Kirkland became floor manager for the new company, and served in that capacity for the programme in the early years of Benny's association with the firm. His first credit on the show was as "Programme Associate," on the Feb. 22, 1973 and March 29, 1973 editions, then he served as warm-up man for the show for the next five years. In the meantime, he had moved up the ranks, and was producing shows such as Rainbow, The Tomorrow People, and the sketch comedy show What's On Next? which featured some once and/or future Hill players in its cast.

Finally, with the March 14, 1979 edition Kirkland became the seventh producer/director of TBHS in its Thames run, producing every remaining edition of the show, ultimately serving as long as the first six producer/directors combined, and ending up also exceeding the run of Kenneth Carter who produced Mr. Hill on and off at both the BBC and ATV during the period 1955-1968. Hill's relationships with his prior producers had been often contentious and tumultuous, but he and Kirkland - described in one of the Hill books as "a Geordie with a bubbly sense of humor" - would hit it off right away (becoming one of the comedian's closest friends off the set as well), to the very end.

Under Kirkland's watch, the technical standards of the show improved steadily, and the programme began moving away from the verbal-based humor which was Benny's forte up to that time and more towards what Dennis liked to call "comedy without words." During his run with the Hill show, Kirkland also worked with the likes of Ken Dodd, Jim Davidson and, significantly, Eric Sykes, whose 1979 comedy The Plank won at Montreux; the two also collaborated on two other projects, It's Your Move and Mr. H Is Late, the latter of which also featured longtime Hill straight man Henry McGee.

The most controversial aspect of Kirkland's run as Hill's producer/director was the introduction, in 1980, of Hill's Angels. He had begun to move the show in that direction with the March 14, 1979 "Hot Gossamer" takeoff, but within a year of the Angels' introduction the entire show became a lightning rod for feminists, "alternative" comics and other special-interest groups that claimed Mr. Hill had promoted the objectification and degradation of women in his work. Efforts to tone down the sexual aspects of the show after 1984 ended up to no avail, and after years of declining ratings (and the further entrenchment of a climate of "political correctness") Thames cancelled TBHS in 1989. Forever after, Kirkland never forgave the company for what he called the "sacking" of Hill, and what he characterized as the "hypocrisy" of Thames still making millions off of foreign sales.

Kirkland's own career suffered afterwards (his association with Thames ended not long after the Hill show's demise), in no small part due to his blunt outspokenness, and also due to the "comedy without words" format he had expounded falling out of fashion in Britain. He did produce and direct Benny Hill's World Tour: New York which aired in the U.S. in 1991 and in Britain (in two parts) in 1994, and he was to direct a new series of Hill shows for Central TV at the time of Benny's death (in fact, it was he who discovered Benny's dead body at the latter's Teddington flat on April 20, 1992); after which, Dennis ended up directing a series of shows fronted by Freddie Starr which critics called "The Benny Hill Show without Benny." His most recent credit, three years ago, was of an Irish comedy show, Fear an Phoist.

After Benny's death in 1992, Kirkland wrote a book about his years producing and directing the Hill show, and his long friendship with the comedian, Benny: The True Story (co-written with Hilary Bonner; later republished as The Strange and Saucy World of Benny Hill). In the book, he claimed that Sue Bond (who was on the show from 1970 to 1973) was "the first Hill's Angel," and even listed Diana Darvey as an Angel, though both were long gone from the show by the time the Angels actually came into being.

But regardless of what one feels or thinks of his direction of the show, Dennis Kirkland's legacy in the long history of The Benny Hill Show will live on forever.

Special thanks to William Brown for supplying this tribute.

A Tribute to
Love Machine

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Featuring: Claire Lutter, Libby Roberts, Teresa Lucas, Jane Eve (Colthorpe) & Lorraine Doyle

Love Machine

The dancing and singing troupe Love Machine:
1. from the end of the "Dancing In The Nude" number from April 21, 1976. From left: Claire Lutter (qv), Libby Roberts (qv), Teresa (Terry) Lucas, and Jane Eve (Colthorpe).
2. From their "Think Of The Boys" number of Feb. 23, 1977, which spotlighted their vocal as well as terpsichorean talents; by which time a cute redhead named Lorraine Doyle (qv) had joined the troupe [from left: Jane, Terry, Lorraine, Libby and Claire]. It is widely regarded that their dance routines would pave the way for the future addition of the Hill's Angels to the show. Note: Click The Top Two photos for a larger image.
3. Libby Roberts IMDB Entry
4. Teresa (Terry) Lucas IMDB Entry
5. Claire Lutter IMDB Entry
6. Jane Eve (Colthorpe) IMDB Entry
(who would be known after 1982 as Jane Newman; her other credits, under both names, include Kenny Everett's TV shows, as a member of the "Hot Gossip" dance troupe; the 1980 Village People movie Can't Stop the Music; and the 1983 Monty Python film The Meaning of Life).
7. Lorraine Doyle IMDB Entry
TRIVIA NOTE: An early member of the Machine was future TBHS cast member Sue Upton, but she had left the troupe before either they or she were booked onto the program for their respective first times. As noted elsewhere, two of the Love Machinists would later be involved with the Angels, in different capacities: Ms. Doyle, as the most prominent after Ms. Upton (especially following the departure of Louise English from the series in 1986); and Ms. Roberts, as Angels choreographer from Jan. 16, 1984 to the end (including the independently-produced New York special). Closeups of individual members at left: (all from April 21, 1976, except for the shot of Lorraine from Feb. 23, 1977).

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Lorraine Doyle

IMDB Entry
Three shots of the lovely Lorraine Doyle, (top) from the Hill's Angels Photocall bit of April 5, 1989; (middle) from one of the 1985 "Just Married" quickies. First appeared on TBHS in 1977 as part of the Love Machine (qv) dancing/singing troupe, and that same year made an impression as (bottom), "Slimey Sally" in the now-famous "Husky & Starch" bit. (To see how she appeared back then, go to the Love Machine entry elsewhere in Who's Who.) She is one of only two known individuals to have been in both Love Machine and Hot Gossip, the other being Jane Eve (Colthorpe); but whereas Jane was a mainstay for several years, Lorraine was in and out of the latter troupe over the years, with at least one period (in 1981) where they toured together, though neither were in the latter outfit at the same time. Also did much stage and TV, as well as being one of the dancers in the 1984 movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, before returning to TBHS full-time starting with the 1985 series; by which time her old Love Machine mate, Libby Roberts (qv), had become the Hill's Angels choreographer. Ms. Doyle quickly rose to prominence among the cast, eventually becoming the second most prominent Hill's Angel after Sue Upton, especially in the wake of Louise English's departure from the series in 1986. Lorraine's other major TV work besides the Hill show was in the role of "Jackie" in the sitcom Executive Stress (whose star, Penelope Keith, had co-starred with one-time-only TBHS guest Paul Eddington (qv) in The Good Life, a.k.a. Good Neighbors). For more about her life and career, click on the Love Machine Q&A section.

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Jane Eve (Colthorpe)

IMDB Entry
Top: from the Feb. 23, 1977 Love Machine "Think of the Boys" musical number and Bottom, from the Feb. 18, 1976, "Transistor Radio" sketch. The Felixstowe native first joined the Machine in 1975, just prior to their first appearance on TBHS (she came in following the departure from the group of future Hill mainstay Sue Upton). After the Machine disassembled in 1979, Jane joined the racy dance troupe Hot Gossip which appeared on both Kenny Everett's Thames Video Show and BBC Television Show; she followed in the footsteps of fellow ex-Machinist (and future Hill's Angel) Lorraine Doyle (qv) who'd been a Hot Gossiper the year before; but unlike Ms. Doyle whose run was somewhat brief, Jane lasted with the group well into the mid-'80's. She and the other Hot Gossip dancers as constituted at the time appeared in the 1980 Village People turkey Can't Stop the Music, on which she was credited as Jane Margaret Colthworphe (the spelling of her surname in the credits of that flick appeared a bit too outlandish to be true - and indeed, it was; however, the BFI database has her surname spelled correctly in connection with this film credit). For many years after 1982, she was known as Jane Newman, her first major credit as such being in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983; she was one of the many dancers who participated in the "Christmas in Heaven" musical number). She remained with the Everett show as a featured player in sketches after her run with Hot Gossip ended. There is a page which has some other info about her at the point of her Hot Gossip run, c. 1983 at www.early-sarah-brightman.com.

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Teresa Lucas

IMDB Entry
Two stills of Love Machinist Teresa Lucas, both from their "Think of the Boys" number of Feb. 23, 1977. An original member of the group, and known as Terry for short, she was as adept in comedy sketches as in the Machine's dance routines. Her own name was used in the "long-jump" routine of the Feb. 18, 1976 "Word of Sport" sketch in which she (and her fellow Love Machinists) appeared. She was also mentioned in an advert put in The Stage and Television Today in 1982 after the dance troupe Lipstick (which she and her fellow ex-Machinist, Libby Roberts, choreographed at the time before taking over the helm of the Angels) performed at a Royal Gala Performance before HRH Princess Alexandra in Reading, England, on June 13, 1982; at the bottom of the ad was this contact info: "Enquiries to Libby Roberts or Teresa Lucas."

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Claire Lutter

IMDB Entry
From the "Chow Mein Package Tours" sketch of 3/23/77, is Claire Lutter. She later played a prostitute in the ill-fated Sean Penn/Madonna vehicle Shanghai Surprise. Here is a link to her page at www.gridmodels.homestead.com

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Libby Roberts

IMDB Entry
Here we have one of The Love Machinists, Libby Roberts, as seen here from the "Sale of the Half-Century" parody of April 21, 1976, who went on (from 1984 onwards) to be the Hill's Angels' choreographer (she succeeded Linda Finch, ex-regular Roger's sister). Her son, Adam Johnstone, was one of the "Hill's Little Angels" who appeared in the 1988 and '89 series of TBHS (and also the independently-produced "New York" special).

A Tribute to
Diana Darvey

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Diana Magdalene Roloff
21 April 1945 - 11 April 2000

IMDB Entry
I wish I had more information on this very special lady. She appeared on The Benny Hill Show as a singer and dancer with Benny, but she also did some sketches, most notably, "The Catch" which was a parody of "The Sting". This page is affectionately dedicated to this remarkably talented woman and entertainer. Please feel free to pass along any information you may have.

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Update: December 6, 2006

William Brown has done more research on Diana and here is another obituary on this special lady. It was written by her second husband.

Diana Darvey Obituary from The Stage

London, England, April 20, 2000.
Former Benny Hill Show star Diana Darvey has died at the age of 54 following a fall at her home.

She began her career at the age of 15 as a dancer in pantomime at Bath. Her mother, Pamela Cooper, had danced at the Windmill.

A spell as a Redcoat followed before Darvey toured Sweden and Spain with a London ballet troupe. She enjoyed Sweden, but fell in love with Spain and proved a hit with audiences. When the tour ended, she settled there and topped the bill in revista under the great Spanish impresario Colsada.

The following decade, she starred in Spanish musical theatre before being spotted by Hill in the early seventies while he was holidaying in Madrid.

She spent four happy and successful years on his show, and in addition to having her own special spots, which she arranged, choreographed and designed the clothes for, she was equally happy in songs and sketches with Hill.

Her work can still be enjoyed on videos of shows from that period. - Ralph Barker

Update: March 21, 2005

I asked William Brown who is a contributing editor to this site if he could get more information on our darling Miss Darvey. He was able to get more information and here it is:

Apparently, she once ran a pub in Bodicote, Oxfordshire (apparently within the last years of her life). At the time of her 1974-75 TBHS appearances, she was represented by Hill's agent, Richard Stone; by the time of her final appearance in 1977, she was represented by an agency called Al Heath International. For a time in the early '80's, she and her then-husband, Terry Gittings, were based in Miami Beach, Florida, where, buoyed by the success of TBHS in America, they had a joint cabaret act. I hereby quote an article from The British Tourist (a South Florida publication), first published in its July 1982 issue (page 14):

BENNY HILL TO CABARET

Glamorous Londoner Diana Darvey is well known to millions not only in Britain but here in the U.S.A. too. She is appearing every day on American television in one of the most popular TV series here ever - the Benny Hill show.

Now Diana has made Miami Beach her new home and with husband Terry Gittings, also from England, she is planning to augment her TV success with live cabaret entertainment this summer for visitors and residents in South Florida.

Diana spent the winter entertaining aboard a Caribbean cruise liner operating out of Miami. Terry is a former drummer with Georgie Fame who has performed around the world.

From now on they intend to do cabaret together on terra firma. Diana is a singer-comedienne and her live show with Terry is an hour-long cabaret with everything from sketches to song and dance.

"We've appeared all over Europe, Japan, the Far East and Australia, so we know our routine appeals to international audiences," says Terry.

Diana Darvey Obituary

Recently, I was emailed an obituary on the late Diana Darvey from Bob Jackson. This was posted in one of the Yahoo Groups by the webmaster of SueUpton.net, Erik Larsen. The article was originally published in "The Independant".

Head Line Obituary: Diana Darvey
Sub-Heading
Publication Independent Date 27/05/2000
Byline Denis Gifford Source QUARK
Page nos. 7 Edition FOREIGN
Section Obituaries Supplement Review
Picture Storyno Picture Caption Darvey: `sexy knockout'
Copyright Flagno Copyright Info
Legal Warning Legal Warning Info

THE SEVENTIES were the great years for Thames Television, the greatest of all the ITV production companies, and their greatest star was Benny Hill. His 60-minute specials were the best-written, best-produced and funniest programmes of the week, the month, even the year. And, what's more, they highlighted the prettiest girls.

But prettier than all of his Hill's Angels moulded into one was Diana Darvey, for besides beauty she had enormous talent. Dennis Kirkland, who rose from floor manager on the television show Looks Familiar to be Hill's producer and co-writer, remembers Darvey as the lady who would burst Benny's balloons at a single glance. "She was beautiful, an absolute sexy knock-out on the TV screen," he recalls, "but - off- screen - she was totally the unsexiest girl you've ever seen in your life."

This contradiction in off- and on-screen personality I can vouch for. Darvey was an unexpected added attraction to one of my panel game shows, Quick on the Draw. This series was unique in that it starred cartoonists who drew the answers to comedy questions posed and drawn by the chairman, Bob Monkhouse. Newspaper cartoonists like Bill Tidy, veteran comic artists like Ern Shaw, and strip artists like Frank Bellamy were among those who drew funny cartoon answers alongside such show- business stars as Spike Milligan and Jimmy Jewel, showing off hitherto-unsuspected artistic talents.

Monkhouse, a former comic artist, was the perfect host, and it was he, along with the producer, David Clark, who added Diana Darvey to my format which, I must admit, was otherwise a somewhat sexless affair. Her weekly hostessing of Quick on the Draw brought her regularly in front of a new public, alongside her starrier appearances in The Benny Hill Show, which began in early 1974.

It was in fact Benny Hill who discovered her and brought her back home to Britain. He was taking one of his frequent holidays abroad, when he saw her singing in a revue in Madrid. Immediately attracted by her beauty of face, figure and voice, he was amazed to discover that she was an English girl born and bred.

Diana Darvey was the daughter of a beautiful mother, Pamela Cooper, one of the much admired Windmill Girls. Born Diana Roloff in 1945 in Cheadle, Cheshire, she grew up and was educated in Bristol. Her father died when she was only two years old, and when she entered show business she took on the surname Darvey, from her mother's second husband. This was later changed to Darvey.

Her first stage appearance came in 1962, as a dancing girl in a pantomime staged in Bath. The following year she became a Butlin's Redcoat, and then she joined a London ballet troupe. This took her out of the country, first to Sweden, then to Spain. When an opportunity to settle and work there came she leapt at it. A famous Spanish impresario, Colsada, saw her and made her the star of his revue. Openings in the Spanish musical theatre followed where, in time, she was spotted by the holidaymaking Hill. Delighted to return to her homeland, she dazzled the producers at Thames, who sought to use her to the full.

Apart from her regular appearances on Quick on the Draw, she was popped into the sitcom series . . . And Mother Makes Five, starring Wendy Craig and Richard Coleman, and turned up in the cast of Carry On Behind (1975), outshining in her beauty the likes of Elke Sommer, Liz Fraser and Adrienne Posta.

But it was in the Hill shows that she truly shone, both as a participant in his sketches and, especially, as a singing star. The climax to her long run of solo spots was a five-minute sequence of her own devising in which she sang a skilful continuity of five different songs in three languages, Spanish, French and English. She appeared in five different costumes, all of which she designed herself. Nothing sexier had ever been seen on a British television screen. "She designed her dresses with splits from thigh to elbow," sighed Kirkland. "You don't see girls like that these days."

Diana Magdalene Roloff (Diana Darvey), actress: born Cheadle, Cheshire 21 April 1945; married first Terry Gittings (marriage dissolved), second 1995 Ralph Barker; died Redhill, Surrey 11 April 2000.
Denis Gifford died c18 May 2000

Robert Jackson,
156 Grahams Road,
Christchurch 8005,
NEW ZEALAND

Left to Right:

Robert Furlong, Diana Darvey and Terry Gittings. This photo was submitted by Robbie Furlong who was Diana's personal guitarist.

Bob Todd Tribute
by William Brown

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Page 6

Bob Todd (1921 - 1992)

IMDB Entry

Bob Todd as he appeared in
the "Spot Black" sketch of Dec. 5, 1973

William Brown has written a tribute to another of those key cast members of the Benny Hill Show, the late Bob Todd! There are also several pics spread throughout the tribute. Special thanks to William Brown.

Of the key cast of The Benny Hill Show, three names are almost always mentioned in terms of Mr. Hill's supporting regulars: Henry McGee, the straight man/announcer (and, in the early years, Nicholas Parsons); Jackie Wright, the little bald man who was the recipient of many a tap on the head; and a 6' 2" character and comic actor dubbed "the tall bald one" in certain circles, Bob Todd. With his height, wiry frame (in the early years, changed to a more burly frame in later years), a round, moon-like face, pronounced bags around the eyes, and a lugubrious baritone voice that matched his face, Mr. Todd's own visage and presence was as much a part of the show as those of the other "core" performers who graced the show over the course of its long run. His own gallery of characters was every bit as famous as those of the other supporting players, most notably his impersonation of Johnny Craddock, one-half of a husband/wife cooking team; but also of such archetypal characters as the jealous husband, the drunk at a bar, a drill sergeant, a vicar, a German officer (or spy), a Western outlaw, an Army colonel, a Southern moonshiner, an Indian foil to Benny's Chow Mein character, and (especially in the latter half of his run with the show) a battle-axe wife; he also did his share of blackface, notably as a servant in the Civil War sketch "Home Is The Hero," another servant in "Long Dry Summer," and occasional turns as the Mark Sanger character in parodies of the TV cop show Ironside. Also, he was the inspiration for a song called "99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd," performed and recorded by a British Merseyside-area band called Half Man Half Biscuit in 1985.

Left: Bob Todd as himself,
from "Confrontation: Mervyn Cruddy Speaks Out"
(March 29, 1973)

He was born in Faversham, Kent, England on Dec. 15, 1921. Not much about his early years is known, but during World War II, he served in the RAF as a squadron leader; after the war, he held many jobs, then settled into life as a cattle farmer. Around 1960, his cattle business failed, and he then turned to comic acting. Different editions of Who's Who on Television books published in Britain in the 1980's pinpointed 1963 as the year Bob made his TV debut, in Citizen James (starring Sid James of Carry On fame), however the show actually ran from 1960 to 1962; the IMDb and other online databases list his earliest credits as from 1961 (including both the aforementioned programme and the TV series It's a Square World). In his first decade of comic acting, he also worked with the likes of Michael Bentine, Dick Emery, Eric Sykes, Ronnie Barker (later to be one-half of The Two Ronnies), Bernard Cribbins and (on and off over the years, in an association as famous in Britain as his future partnership with Hill) Goon Show creative genius/madman Spike Milligan. He started out in minor walk-ons, including an uncredited role in Raising the Wind (1961), and gradually went to larger speaking roles; more notable flicks featuring him will be mentioned later on in this tribute.

Left: Bob Todd in "Poetry Corner".
Broadcast: March 29, 1973.

All the while, Bob really set his sights on appearing with one of the top comics of British TV - Benny Hill. He had written several times to Hill's producers throughout the 1960's with no luck, and had just about given up his quest when he was first given a shot on what turned out to be Mr. Hill's next-to-last BBC show, aired on Dec. 11, 1968; this show also marked the debut of an ex-Lionel Blair dancer then making her initial name as a supporting "glamour stooge" in the comedy/variety field, Jenny Lee-Wright. This core quartet of Henry McGee, Jackie Wright, Mr. Todd and Ms. Lee-Wright would be on many a Hill show (some more frequently than others) through the 1980's. Even so, Bob wouldn't be on the show again for another two years, returning for the Oct. 28, 1970 edition; then another two shows passed before he became a full-fledged regular, effective with the Feb. 24, 1971 show. One early example of Todd's contribution to the particular chemistry for which the show and its cast were known was the March 24, 1971 "Opportunitie Knokkes" sketch where Bob was the drummer, and Benny and Jackie Wright were lederhosen-wearing dancers. Another of his standout performances in his early years on the show was as the frustrated man battling an uncooperative folding lawn chair in the landmark Oct. 25, 1972 "Woodstick" sketch. He even played himself as one of three interviewers quizzing Benny's Mervyn Cruddy character in the March 29, 1973 "Confrontation" sketch.

Left: Bob Todd as a member of the Potts gang
in "Great Mysteries With Orson Buggy: The Catch"
(March 12, 1975)

In the first decade of his involvement with TBHS, Mr. Todd also had a (very) short-lived sitcom of his own, In for a Penny, playing the role of a lavatory man named Dan. In addition, he appeared in a series headlined by veteran entertainer Val Doonican, as well as The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine which also featured former Get Smart co-star Barbara Feldon, onetime TBHS guest Clovissa Newcombe, and animations from Monty Python's resident cartoonist Terry Gilliam (both the Doonican and Feldman shows also aired in the U.S. at the time). He was in a film adaptation of Milligan's somewhat autobiographical Adolf Hitler - My Part in His Downfall (1972); played a funeral director in That's Your Funeral (also 1972); appeared with a few once-and-then-current Hill players in the 1973 British cult classic Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World; and was also featured in Confessions of a Pop Performer (1974) - among others. And for several years in the early 1970's, he appeared in British TV commercials for Knorr beef cubes where he let out the cry, "It's beef!" He parodied this catchphrase (and his involvement in the ads) in the "Uplift With Humphrey Bumphrey" sketch of Feb. 24, 1971, in the section where Benny was playing "quick-change" artist "Speedy Zapper," with him changing into Todd's pitchman for a brief moment.

He worked - and played - real hard on the shows he appeared in (not just TBHS but others), often suffering many injuries in the process. Sharp-eyed viewers will note that in the first three years of Todd's involvement with the Hill show in the Thames years - Oct. 28, 1970 to March 29, 1973 - he had what looked like very bad teeth in moments when he spoke and the camera had him in close-up. (An obituary in The Stage and Television Today that was published in its Nov. 12, 1992 edition, mentioned that he lost 11 teeth while filming a sketch for Dave Allen's show.) He had apparently lost them all by the time the 1973-74 series came around, given his wearing false teeth after the Dec. 5, 1973 edition (most notably as a gypsy fortune teller in a closeup shot on that show). He also once appeared in a stage production where he had fallen on his head and ended up with a fractured skull.

Left: Bob Todd as Rufus the black servant
in the Nov. 24, 1971 "Home Is The Hero" sketch

By all accounts, Todd had a propensity to break out into the giggles while working; his appearance and presence would cause Hill (and other cast members) to likewise crack up uncontrollably in fits of laughter during the filming/taping of sketches and quickies. The "Home Is The Hero" sketch from Nov. 24, 1971 was a prime example of this, as neither he nor Benny were all that able to keep a straight face during the making of the sketch. Often he would bite his tongue (literally) before the cameras rolled so as to resist any temptation to break out into laughter. In one quickie, they ended up filming his part apart from the the other players, so that both he and the rest of the cast would maintain a straight face all through the bit (he was playing a judge at the time). Another case of giggle-laden mishaps involving Bob was the making of the "French" Bonanza blooper from March 24, 1971 (he played a Native American chief at the time), which ended up taking all of 32 takes to get it right.

Left: As Johnny Craddock in the Nov. 24, 1971
sketch "Fun In The Kitchen With Johnny and Cranny Faddock"

One particular standout in Mr. Todd's array of characters, of course, was his impersonation of Johnny Craddock, one-half of the British husband/wife cooking team Fanny and Johnny Craddock (Fanny was played mostly by Benny, except for the 1981 Remote Control Hill's Angels {a.k.a. "Street Dance"} number when she was played by Jackie Wright). In three different variations - regular British, German and Chinese - Bob played Johnny as becoming progressively more blotto (inebriated) with each passing moment, finally going totally haywire towards the end, with more than a hint of anarchic fury lurking beneath the surface. One Hill biography noted that if Todd's portrayals of lushes (including the thoroughly sloshed poet in one of the March 29, 1973 "Poetry Corner" runners) were so convincing, it was because he was one himself, behind-the-scenes. Benny himself, in character as the leader of a German "youth" choir towards the end of the Oct. 25, 1972 show, may have made an allusion to Bob's condition at one point when he mentioned some classical music composers whose works the choir was about to perform and said, "Mozart und Liszt - und that vun {pointing to Todd} is . . . " ('Mozart & Liszt' is one of two variations of Cockney slang for 'drunk.') He was also frequently (at least in the '70's) high on grass, as well. This did not sit all that well with Mr. Hill, a perfectionist who demanded 110% professionalism from all those who were on his show (as well as himself) - especially in the 1970's, when he went through producer/directors the way New York Yankees (baseball team) owner George Steinbrenner used to go through managers before settling on Joe Torre. After featuring Todd in the first two shows of the 1975 series, Benny didn't use Bob again until the March 24, 1976 edition (among his roles on which included an impersonation of Buddy Ebsen's Barnaby Jones character in "Murder on the Oregon Express") - and after that, Hill didn't have him on the show again for the rest of the decade, especially after an incident which made headlines in the papers, whereby Todd had disappeared from a London Palladium show for five days, going on a particularly wild bender and then waking up in a Dublin hospital. In those "wilderness years," Bob appeared as a regular on another Thames sketch show, What's On Next?, which featured amongst the cast such once and/or future Hill players as Anna Dawson, Cheryl Gilham and Anne Bruzac; such film fare as Come Play With Me (1977), perhaps the most famous film to star the late British adult-film actress Mary Millington; and a spell on his old mate Spike Milligan's Q series, in 1979-80. On the other side of the fence, Hill had a hard time filling Todd's shoes, with such varied players as Eddie Buchanan (alternating amongst leading-man roles, his stint as a resident singer, and the kind of burly, beefy character types that were Bob's specialty), one-time-only guest Charles Stapley and burly character actor Cyril Cross filling in at various points. (Cross was the only one in that kind of role to still be on the show after Todd was brought back.)

Left: Bob Todd as Buddy Ebsen in
"Murder on The Oregon Express" (March 24, 1976).

Todd's return to TBHS effective with the 1980 series was instigated by Hill's new producer/director Dennis Kirkland, who advised Benny that Bob had given so much to the show and that his drinking didn't affect his work all that much. But Mr. Todd's affinity for the bottle may have been a contributing factor in the overall toll that was being taken on his physical appearance by this point; he was considerably heavier than in his prior appearances on the show, and would gain even more weight over the next couple of years. Bob essentially picked up where he left off; he would be in every remaining TBHS edition to be made, plus the Benny Hill's World Tour: New York special made after Thames pulled the plug and the documentary Benny Hill: The World's Favourite Clown. One character he occasionally played during this second (and longest-running) go-round was the man who fancied himself a sophisticate with the ladies, but constantly struck out; most famously in the "Hotel Splendide" bit of Jan. 6, 1982 when Jo Thomas complimented him on his smile and he responded by taking out his pipe (and his false teeth to which the pipe was affixed), and again in the "Holiday" sketch of March 16, 1983 (with Corinne Russell not at all impressed). He also played the corner newsagent who was hawking the headlines of the "Great TV Set Mystery" before being "zapped" in the April 16, 1980 sketch "Station 007 New York Presents '1994'," and one of the male dancers in the "Women's Lib Television: The Kitty Everett Show" routine of the same edition; he was one of "Charlene's Angels" in the Feb. 6, 1980 sketch of the same name, and an evil traffic warden in the Jan. 6, 1982 "Cleaning Up Dimpton" sketch (a.k.a. "The Traffic Warden and The Street Cleaner") - among a host of other roles Todd played in Hill's final decade with Thames.

Left: Bob Todd doing his 'impersonation' of Ladybird Marian Davies from the "Portable TV Set" sketch.
Broadcast: Dec. 27, 1972.

Film appearances in the 1980's included a small role in Superman III, which also had in another small role sometime TBHS player Helen Horton; his other most significant TV credits during that decade included The Jim Davidson Show and The Steam Video Company. In 1984 Mr. Todd was the subject of an episode of This Is Your Life, on which Mr. Hill made a very rare TV appearance outside the confines of his own show, reminiscing about his own experiences with the man alternately nicknamed "Toddy" and "Silly Todd." He appeared in two of Eric Sykes' 1980's string of comedies (produced by Kirkland), It's Your Move in 1982 and Mr. H Is Late in 1988; the latter also featuring longtime Hill straight man Henry McGee.

Bob Todd was married for more than four decades and had three children: two sons, John and Patrick, and a daughter, Anne.

After Benny's death in 1992, Bob was all set to attend his funeral, but missed the proceedings due to a series of mishaps including getting stuck in traffic, the tailor's not finding a suit that would fit him, and winding up on the wrong train platform. He ended up drowning his sorrows (both for Benny's passing and his missing the funeral) in a local pub; as another Hill biography so put it, "Benny would have roared with laughter." Six months after Hill's death, on October 21, 1992, Bob Todd himself died, in Sussex, England, at the age of 70 - but his place as a fan favorite among the show's other comic stooges endures to this day.

Boots Randolph Tribute
by William Brown

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Page 7
Boots Randolph (1927-2007)

Though he wasn't on the show itself in terms of actually appearing as a featured performer or musical guest, Nashville tenor saxophonist Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III, who died on July 3, 2007 at age 80 from a cerebral hemorrhage, was a major fixture on The Benny Hill Show by dint of his signature tune, "Yakety Sax," being used on the programme beginning with Mr. Hill's very first Thames show in 1969 and continuing to the very end of Hill's television career, played in a whole host of versions struck up by the in-house Thames orchestra under the baton of (usually) Ronnie Aldrich, and the sax of British session player Peter Hughes, in the process becoming synonymous with the show itself, to the extent of being called "The Benny Hill Theme" by many.

But Randolph was more than just a writer and performer of a little fast-paced ditty heard over ending runoff chases on a British TV comedy show. He was a versatile performer who excelled in all types of genres including jazz, blues, and rock & roll. He was also part of the "A" list of Nashville session musicians including Bob Moore, Harold Bradley, Charlie McCoy, Hank Garland, Grady Martin, Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins (whose guitar-based equivalent version, "Yakety Axe," would be used for the ending chase of Benny's 1977 Australian special Benny Hill Down Under, as well as being played on the second of the Monty Python troupe's early 1970's German specials), who played on many 1950's and '60's songs that were the very definition of what would come to be called "The Nashville Sound." Indeed, as a headlining recording artist, he would be to saxophone what Atkins was to guitar, McCoy was to harmonica, and Cramer was to piano. His improvisational ability with the sax, and modulating its volume and tone to fit the mood and style of whatever song he was performing, won him the admiration of colleagues and fans alike.

He was born June 3, 1927 in Paducah, Kentucky; the name "Boots" was bestowed upon him in childhood by his brother Bob. Initially trained on the trombone and ukulele, he switched to sax by the time he was 16 when he was in high school; it was in World War II, as a member of the United States Army Band, that he honed his craft. After the war, he toured in and around the Midwest and South on a semi-professional basis. It was in one of his performances on the road that he was spotted by Jethro Burns, one-half of the comedy country duo Homer & Jethro. Burns then introduced him to legendary Nashville guitarist (and RCA Victor producer) Chet Atkins, who signed him to the label; it was in this period that he also made connections within the Nashville recording scene, including famed producer (and Atkins rival) Owen Bradley, on whose productions Boots played over the next few years (including Brenda Lee's Christmas standard "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and a few sides by Elvis Presley). He averaged about 200-300 session dates a year at his peak, backing artists such as Lee, Presley, Homer & Jethro, Perry Como, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Al Hirt, and even REO Speedwagon.

Randolph first conceived "Yakety Sax" (with guitarist James "Spider" Rich) as being along the lines, tempo- and key-wise, of - albeit differing from - The Coasters' 1958 hit "Yakety Yak" (whose own sax solo came courtesy of famed R&B saxophonist King Curtis). An early version, recorded that year for RCA Victor and released in November as single #47-7395 (and credited to "Randy" Randolph, which would be the name of his son), flopped ignominiously. It wasn't until a few years after, when the song was featured on a local Baltimore, MD TV children's show, that it began to gain some buzz; when he recorded a new version for the up-and-coming Monument label in late 1962, the number - as issued on single #45-804, and credited to "Boots Randolph and His Combo" - truly exploded, reaching the Top 40 on the U.S. charts in 1963. (In contrast, when it was released in the U.K. on the London label [single #HLU 9685] in 1963, it made absolutely no impact at the time; it may have been that factor, plus Benny's taste for the unorthodox and "different" in music, that led him to pick that song above all others as music to be chased by.) For Randolph and Monument, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship; he would record for the label well into the mid-1970's, alas most of his records which charted, outside of "Yakety Sax," were on the album charts.

Besides his session work and own recordings, Randolph made numerious appearances on TV variety shows over the years, including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Mike Douglas Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He also appeared as himself in a 1979 made-for-TV movie, Murder in Music City.

In 1977, two years prior to TBHS making it to U.S. syndication, Randolph opened a nightclub, Printer's Alley, which remained a popular tourist attraction until its closure in 1994.

He remained a popular live performer well into the new millennium, keeping active until near the end; one of his last public performances was on June 2, 2007 at the Greene County Festival in Linton, Indiana. On his last album, A Whole New Ballgame, released only a month before his death, he offered versions of such old standards as "'Round Midnight" and "Nature Boy" which showed him still at it.

But with all these accomplishments and more, it is for "Yakety Sax" that he will perhaps be best remembered. And for this and more, he will be sorely missed.

Special thanks to William Brown for supplying this tribute.

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