Goodbye Gladys
Hi-de-Hi legend Ruth Madoc dies at 79 – hours after telling fans that she was on the mend from a fall
COMEDY stars last night paid tribute to Hi-De-Hi! actress Ruth Madoc, after she died at the age of 79 following a fall.
The star, who became a household name as Gladys Pugh, the bossy chief yellowcoat of Maplin’s holiday camp in the 1980s BBC sitcom, passed away in hospital on Friday, where she had undergone surgery after her accident last week.
Just hours before the tragic news broke, Ms Madoc had assured fans she was on the mend, posting on social media: ‘Please don’t worry… I’m doing really well and will soon be back to normal!’
Announcing her death, her agent, Phil Belfield, called Ms Madoc ‘a real legend of the British entertainment scene’, adding: ‘She was one of a kind and a unique talent loved by many… she was truly a national
‘She was a unique talent, truly a national treasure’
treasure. She is gone far too soon. Our hearts are broken.’
Yesterday her celebrity friends paid tribute, with Les Dennis tweeting that she was ‘such a talented and lovely woman’.
Blackadder actor Tony Robinson said: ‘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.’
Author and former MP Gyles Brandreth called her ‘a very lovely person and wonderfully gifted actress’, and comedian Tommy Cannon added: ‘What a wonderful lady.’
Ms Madoc was due to start a run of the pantomime Aladdin in Torquay, Devon, last Friday, until her fall forced her to withdraw. And she was set to go on tour next year with a stage version of the 2011 film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
In her last Instagram post, Ms Madoc wrote: ‘Please don’t worry! I’m well and I’ll soon be back to normal, but unfortunately @princesstheatretorquay won’t get to have The Empress Gladys in the Panto this Christmas!!! I’m doing really well and will soon be back to normal!’
Set in the 1950s, Hi-De-Hi! ran for 53 episodes between 1980 and 1988, attracting up to 17million viewers at its peak. Gladys became a fan favourite, known for lusting after emotionally repressed camp boss Jeffrey Fairbrother and for making announcements over the PA, heralded by a three-note jingle on her xylophone and her rich
Welsh accent intoning: ‘Hello campers! Hi-de-hi!’ She later said of Gladys: ‘She was a woman of her time, like two tons of nutty slack rolling down the Welsh valleys.’
Trained at the Royal Acadamy for the Dramatic Arts (Rada), Ms Madoc had a heavyweight dramatic career before being cast in the sitcom. She appeared in the 1971 film version of Fiddler On The Roof and alongside Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the 1972 cinema adaptation of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood. More recently, she appeared on stage with Calendar Girls and in Little Britain playing Mrs Thomas, the mother of ‘the only gay in the village’ Dafydd. Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who created the role for her, said they were ‘shocked and saddened’ to hear of her death, saying that she was ‘brilliant in the show and an absolute delight to work with’.
In 2018, Ms Madoc took part in an all-female version of The Real Full Monty, where she overcame her insecurities to go topless on TV to raise awareness of breast cancer.