Ruth Madoc dead at 79

[Canada]

Ruth Madoc (born Ruth Llewellyn; 16 April 1943 – 9 December 2022) was a British actress and singer who had a career on stage and screen spanning over 60 years. She was best known for her role as Gladys Pugh in the BBC television comedy Hi-de-Hi! (1980–1988), for which she received a BAFTA TV award nomination for Best Light Entertainment Performance.

In 1971, Madoc played Fruma Sarah in the film version of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and in 1972 she appeared as Mrs Dai Bread Two in the film of Under Milk Wood. She also appeared regularly in the entertainment programme Poems and Pints on BBC Wales. She provided one of the alien voices in the Cadbury's Smash commercials in the 1970s, and made a brief appearance in the 1977 film, The Prince and the Pauper (aka Crossed Swords).

Madoc appeared in many theatre productions, including the stage version of Under Milk Wood, Steel Magnolias, Agatha Christie thrillers (And Then There Were None...), the musical Annie and many pantomime parts. She appeared twice at the Royal Variety Performance, once in 1986 and again in 1982.

Madoc was best known for her role as Gladys Pugh in the television sitcom Hi-de-Hi, one of the lead roles, for which she received a BAFTA TV award nomination for Best Light Entertainment Performance. The comedy was set in the fictional 1950s type holiday camp Maplins. Madoc's recurring role centred on her unrequited love for the camp entertainment manager Professor Jeffrey Fairbrother (Simon Cadell) and she was notable for her announcements on the camp tannoy with her signature three notes played on a mini xylophone.

Madoc was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1984 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. In 1993 she played Mrs Bardell in Pickwick at the Chichester Festival Theatre. In 2004 she appeared in the reality television programme Cariad@Iaith on S4C, in which celebrities went on an intensive course in the Welsh language. She also appeared in the fourth series of LivingTV reality show I'm Famous and Frightened! which she went on to win. In 2005 she appeared as Daffyd Thomas's mother in the second series of BBC sketch show Little Britain.

She also appeared in "Annie" as Miss Hannigan on tour. In 2007 she appeared as a fictional version of herself in episode 2 of the BBC Radio 2 comedy Buy Me Up TV. In 2008 she appeared at the Pavilion Theatre, Rhyl playing the Bad Fairy in the pantomime 'Sleeping Beauty', with Sonia and Rebecca Trehearn.