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Hugh Paddick

{{Short description|Comedy actor (1915–2000)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Hugh Paddick

| image = Hugh_Paddick.jpg

| caption = Paddick in a Round the Horne publicity shot

| birth_name = Hugh William Paddick

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|8|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|11|9|1915|8|22|df=y}}

| death_place = Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England

| death_cause =

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| nationality = British

| other_names =

| known_for =

| occupation = Comedy actor

| partner =

}}

Hugh William Paddick (22 August 1915 – 9 November 2000){{Cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001116/ai_n14346128 |title=Obituary: Hugh Paddick |periodical=The Independent |date=17 November 2000 |access-date=31 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928011054/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001116/ai_n14346128 |archive-date=28 September 2008 |url-status=dead }} was an English actor. He starred in the 1960s BBC radio show Round the Horne, performing in sketches such as "Charles and Fiona" (as Charles) and "Julian and Sandy" (as Julian). He and Kenneth Williams were largely responsible for introducing the underground language Polari to the British public.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ptop/alabaster/A10357832|title=BBC – h2g2 – Polari – the Secret Language – A10357832|publisher=BBC}}

Paddick also enjoyed success as Percival Browne in the original West End production of The Boy Friend, in 1954.{{cite book

|last= Stevens

|first= Christopher

|title= Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams

|publisher= John Murray

|year= 2010

|isbn = 978-1-84854-195-5

|page=370

}}{{cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.120848&catNum=120848&filetype=About+this+Recording&language=English|title=The Boy Friend (Original London Cast 1954)|work=naxos.com|access-date=13 December 2014|archive-date=22 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222193546/http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.120848&catNum=120848&filetype=About+this+Recording&language=English|url-status=dead}}

Biography

Born in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, Paddick preferred theatre to any other form of acting and spent most of his life on the stage, from his first role at acting school in 1937{{Cite web|url=http://www.galeuk.com/times/|title=Gale/Times Digital Archive|date=6 September 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030906202207/http://www.galeuk.com/times/ |archive-date=6 September 2003 }} until his retirement. He appeared in the original Drury Lane production of My Fair Lady as Colonel Pickering. He was an accomplished musician – singer, pianist and organist. He can be heard at the piano accompanying Julian and Sandy in several of their sketches on both Round the Horne and The Bona World of Julian and Sandy.

In his diaries, Kenneth Williams, so often scathing of his colleagues, spoke warmly of Paddick's kindness as a man, and of his "subtlety and brilliance" as a performer.{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/13/guardianobituaries1 |title=Hugh Paddick obituary|work=The Guardian |location= London |date=13 November 2000 }}

Paddick was gay{{Cite news |title= What brings you trolling back, then? |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/17/gayrights.comment |first=Colin |last=Richardson |work=The Guardian |location= London |date=17 January 2005 |access-date=31 January 2008 }} and lived for over thirty years with his partner Francis, whom he met at a party in London.{{Cite web |url= http://www.hingeandbracket-official.co.uk/Stars%20Of%20PAGES/Hugh_Paddick.htm |title=Biography of Hugh Paddick |access-date=8 August 2008 |last=Dunford |first=Paul |author2=Logan, George |author3=Fyffe, Patrick |date=10 June 2008 |work=hingeandbracket-official.co.uk |publisher=Paul Dunford}} Paddick was very guarded about his privacy, and he and his partner were keen gardeners at their home in Bedfordshire.[https://www.comedy.co.uk/features/comedy_chronicles/hugh-paddick/ The Quiet One: The understated art of Hugh Paddick]. Comedy Chronicles, by Graham McCann. 26 January 2025.

He was distantly related to Brian Paddick, now Lord Paddick, Britain's first openly gay police commander.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Paddick died in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, on 9 November 2000, aged 85.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-56159-027 |title=Wills and Probate Notices: Hugh Paddick |access-date=7 March 2021 |date=27 March 2001 |work=The London Gazette}}

=In popular culture=

In the 2006 BBC television film Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!, about the life of Williams, Paddick was portrayed by Guy Henry.

Films

{{col-begin}}{{col-2}}

Television

{{col-2}}

Theatre

|title=The Best of Round The Horne

|last=Took

|first=Barry

|author-link=Barry Took

|year=1989

|publisher=Equation

|isbn=1-85336-162-3

}} (1985) Savoy Theatre

Radio

{{col-end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20201204024454/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba30bf71b Hugh Paddick] at the British Film Institute
  • {{IMDb name|0655606}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddick, Hugh}}

Category:1915 births

Category:2000 deaths

Category:20th-century English comedians

Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:Actors from Milton Keynes

Category:Actors from the Borough of Broxbourne

Category:Comedians from Buckinghamshire

Category:Comedians from Hertfordshire

Category:English gay actors

Category:English LGBTQ comedians

Category:English male comedians

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male radio actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:Gay comedians

Category:Male actors from Buckinghamshire

Category:Male actors from Hertfordshire

Category:People from Hoddesdon