Friday, December 9, 2022

Ruth Madoc obit

Ruth Madoc, Hi-de-Hi! and Fiddler on the Roof actor, dies aged 79

Agent pays tribute to ‘unique talent loved by many’ who played Gladys Pugh in BBC comedy series

 

She was not on the list.


The Hi-de-Hi! actor Ruth Madoc has died aged 79 after a fall.

Madoc became a household name playing “chief yellowcoat” Gladys Pugh in the BBC One sitcom. The show ran for eight years from 1980 and was set in a fictional holiday camp, Maplins, during the 1950s.

Her career also included a range of roles in theatre and musicals, such as Fiddler on the Roof and Gypsy.

In a statement, Phil Belfield, of the Belfield & Ward talent agency, described Madoc as “one of a kind and a unique talent loved by many”.

He said: “It is with much sadness that we have to announce the death of our dear and much-loved client Ruth Madoc.

“Ruth passed away on the afternoon of Friday December 9 while in hospital following surgery for a fall she had earlier in the week, which had led her to have to withdraw from panto in Torquay.

“From film work such as Fiddler on the Roof and Under Milk Wood with Richard Burton and her iconic TV performance as Gladys Pugh in Hi De Hi! and more recently in Little Britain and on stage with Calendar Girls (the play and the musical), plus recent acclaim in short films Skinny Fat and Cardiff, she was truly a national treasure and was looking forward to getting back on the road in 2023 with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

“A real legend of the British entertainment scene, she was one of a kind and a unique talent loved by many. She is gone far too soon. Our hearts are broken!

“Thoughts are with her daughter Lowri, her son Rhys and all of her family.”

Actor and writer Sir Tony Robinson, 76, tweeted: “So sad to hear my lovely friend Ruth Madoc has passed.

“She was not only funny and highly intelligent, she was smart, kindly, a loyal trade unionist, and wore her heart on the left. She’ll be much missed.”

Her death comes following a fall that led her to withdraw from performing in the pantomime Aladdin at the Princess Theatre in Torquay.

Posting a statement on Twitter, the theatre company said on Thursday: “Following an accident earlier this week, after medical assessment, regretfully Ruth Madoc is no longer able to appear in this year’s pantomime of Aladdin at the Princess Theatre in Torquay.”

Madoc was born in April 1943 and grew up in Llansamlet near Swansea before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), before her break-out role playing Fruma Sarah in the 1971 film adaptation of the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth has remembered “wonderfully gifted actress” Ruth Madoc following news of her death.

The former MP, who is now a writer and reporter on the BBC’s The One Show, said on Twitter: “This is such sad news. Ruth was a very lovely person – and a wonderfully gifted actress.

“I was lucky enough to get to know her through my best friend from school, Simon Cadell.

“In Hi-De-Hi they were irresistible. RIP Ruth Madoc & thanks for the memories. Goodbye campers!”

Cadell played holiday camp boss Jeffrey Fairbrother, the object of affections for Madoc’s character Glady Pugh.

She is survived by her two children.

Filmography

Television

Year       Title       Role       Ref.

1973–1976          Hunter's Walk    Betty Smith        

1980–1988          Hi-de-Hi!              Gladys Pugh/Dempster

1981      The Life and Times of David Lloyd George              Lizzie Davies

1986      The Adventure Game     Herself

1997      The Pale Horse Sybil Stamfordis

2005      Little Britain        Daffyd Thomas's Mother

2009      Big Top Georgie

2014      Doctors                Alice Swanson

2015      Benidorm            Rhiannon

2015      Get Your Act Together   Contestant

2015      Tinga Tinga Tales              Whale

2016      Stella     Mayor Mary Meyer

2016      Casualty               Bev Whipsnade-Partridge

2018      Doctors                Jean March

2019      Casualty               Millie Falconer

Films

Year       Title       Role       Ref.

1971      Fiddler on the Roof          Fruma Sarah      

1972      Under Milk Wood            Mrs Dai Bread Two         

1977      The Prince and the Pauper           Moll      

2001      Very Annie Mary               Mrs Ifans            

2002      Journey Man      Constance

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