‘Hi-De-Hi’ saved her acting career

Press, 1 July 1985, Page 18

‘Hi-De-Hi’ saved her acting career

By

JUDITH REGAN

Features International

Tucked away in the small village of Sawtry, near Cambridge, is actress Ruth Madoc’s dream house, far from the television cameras, and even further removed from the “Hi-De-Hi” holiday camp. It is where she loves to relax with her children, her husband, rabbits, cockerels, ringtailed doves, goldfish and cat.

Ruth Madoc, who plays the “Hi-De-Hi” yellowcoat, Gladys Pugh, the vamp of Maplins holiday camp, says: “The first moment I saw Bramble Cottage, I knew it was everything I’d ever wanted in a home.

“It’s nice living in a village with lots of lovely neighbours because I can be accepted as a housewife and a mother not just as an actress.”

Yet Gladys Pugh has become so successful that she almost dreads shopping in the nearest town.

“I can’t go out with my children for the day like any normal parent. If I do I have to wear a wig and that annnoys the children — they keep moaning that I don’t look at all like me!

“But they’re beginning to understand that it’s even worse to have crowds of people watching you in a shop. “Probably my most embarrassing moment came when I rushed into a chain store early one morning and forgot to put on my disguise.

“I thought there wouldn’t be many people around, but soon there were droves of other housewifes. “Then I heard one whisper to her friend: ‘I wonder what size knickers she’ll buy.’ I turned and fled.” Ruth Madoc does, however, admit that she owes all her success and security to Gladys Pugh and “Hi-De-Hi.” “Gladys is really a lovely character and it’s an absolute scream the way she’ll go on in that posh Welsh accent. “Mind you, for somebody like me who had such a strict Welsh chapel upbringing, I’d never have had the nerve to give any man such blatant come-ons as Gladys does! “I’ll never forget one scene with Simon Cadell in which he had to open a bottle of champagne. Just before we filmed it some joker in the cast gave the bottle a good shaking.

“I’ll never forget one scene with Simon Cadell in which he had to open a bottle of champagne. Just before we filmed it some joker in the cast gave the bottle a good shaking.

“The cork popped out and the stuff went all over my clothes and Simon’s superbly deadpan face. “Instead of dissolving into roars of laughter like everybody else, we managed to keep calm. “Quickly, I ad-libbed in my sexiest voice: ‘Ooooh, we are feeling frisky tonight, aren’t we?’ “It went down so well that the scene was kept in that episode. Before “Hi-Dee-Hi” came along Ruth Madoc had been a professional actress for almost 20 years. She had appeared in pantomimes, acted in repertory, worked in films and sung in opera. Yet before Gladys Pugh came along she was on the point of giving up acting altogether. “I was seriously thinking of becoming a teacher and had applied for a place at a teacher training college. “Mind you, there are times now when I do get a bit fed up with Gladys. But whenever I do get that way I remind myself how lucky I am and that I’ll never have to spend another night in cold, dismal theatrical digs. “I’ve known some really grotty places in my time. It’s only a couple of years since I stayed in digs in Edinburgh that were so cold I thought I was going to die. “Sometimes I find it hard to believe how my life’s changed so much for the better in such a short time.” A repeat series of “Hi-De-Hi” can be seen on Two on weekday afternoons.