HUGH LLOYDBritish comedy actor Hugh Lloyd, who died on July 14, 2008, aged 85, was best known for his role as Tony Hancock’s unfortunate sidekick in Hancock’s Half Hour and as Terry Scott’s shy and put-upon flat mate in Hugh and I.
Mr Lloyd had a rich and varied life and career but he seems destined to be best remembered for his appearance in the classic comedy sketch The Blood Donor with Tony Hancock discussing wine gums.
Mr Lloyd always claimed he was happiest in "cheerless underdog parts". His acting and comic style was heavily influenced by Stan Laurel who he described as a hero. He said: "I saw Laurel and Hardy on stage and they were brilliant, they didn’t do anything unless it was funny."
It was Laurel’s hangdog, deadpan style that Mr Lloyd tried to use in his own work. He once said: "I can’t stand comedians who laugh at their own jokes. Stan Laurel never did and he didn’t need to offend anybody to get a laugh."
Hugh Lewis Lloyd was born on April 22, 1923, in Chester. His parents were both devout Methodists and were against his ambitions to be a comedian. After leaving King’s School in Chester he took his first job as a newspaper reporter for the Chester Chronicle after his father had persuaded him that comedy was no kind of career. He stayed in journalism for two years before turning his hand to acting.
Mr Lloyd avoided the draft to fight in the Second World War because of his hay fever and by the time the war ended he had given up journalism to become a full time comic. It was at this time that he met and married his first wife but the marriage failed and they were soon divorced.
Mr Lloyd found work as a stand up comic at the Windmill Theatre. He once remembered: "My early performances were disastrous. I deliberately didn’t laugh at my own jokes but neither did the audience."
His professional acting debut came on the stage with ENSA and he worked in repertory theatre until 1957 before he moved into television. From 1957-61 he made over 30 appearances on Hancock’s Half Hour including a guest spot in the classic The Blood Donor.
Mr Lloyd made one last appearance with Hancock in the 1963 film The Punch and Judy Man. He played one half of the seaside act. By this point their relationship was floundering due to Mr Lloyd’s growing popularity and Hancock’s descent into alcoholism. In 1962 began starring in his own series opposite Terry Scott in the long running Hugh and I.
In 1978 he appeared in Alan Bennett’s A Visit from Miss Protheroe with Patricia Routledge. In 1983, at the age of 60, Mr Lloyd married for the fourth time, to Shan Davies who was half his age at 30. During the 1980s he continued to work, often playing the same type of character he had perfected in his early stage and television work – the underdog role.
Before his death Mr Lloyd appeared in several comedy shows appearing alongside comedians such as Victoria Wood and Jimmy Cricket. His last credits included a television appearance with Lee Evans in Lee Evans – So What Now? In 2006 he was appointed MBE for his services to drama and his charitable work. He was survived by his widow Shan and his second wife Jose Stewart, the musician.
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