Su Pollard

Su is one of this countries’ National treasures. Her career has spannes over 50 years she is most famous for her role in the sitcom Hi-de-Hi! She also appeared in You Rang, M’Lord? and Oh, Doctor Beeching! Su has appeared in over 35 stage plays and musicals, as well as over 40 pantomimes.Su has recently become the new President of The British Musical Hall Society a position that had until recently been held by Paul O’Grady. In September Su is embarking on a nationwide tour to celebrate her 50 years in the business – Still Full Charged will be coming to a theatre near you…

Following an apprenticeship at the Arts Theatre in Nottingham, Su appeared on Opportunity Knocks in 1974, singing “I Cain’t Say No” from Oklahoma!, and came second to a singing Jack Russell.

Su went on to play in the musicals The Desert Song and Rose-Marie with John Hanson, starred in the Cameron Mackintosh West End production of Godspell, played opposite Jack Wild in Big Sin City at the Roundhouse, toured in the musical Grease in a company that also included Tracey Ullman, appeared with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Hugh Paddick in the farce Not Now, Darling,  starred in Andrew Sachs‘s play Philately Will Get You Nowhere and appeared at the Mermaid Theatre in a celebration of the music of Cole Porter, titled Oh Mr. Porter!  Su also appeared in ] Annie , The Pirates of Penzance and the musical Shout! alongside Claire Sweeney, and starred in the stage production of Hi De Hi! – The Holiday Musical, along with almost all of the cast from the television series.  Su played Sally in the West End production of Me And My Girl at the Adelphi Theatre which she appeared in for over a year, then came roles in a national tour of Rodgers and Hart’s Babes In Arms playing Bunny Byron opposite Matthew Kelly, and the title role in Sweet Charity

Su’s first comedy role was in a BBC series Two Up, Two Down, in which she played a hippy named Flo. Next came a BBC comedy written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft set in a holiday camp. Su landed the role of chalet maid Peggy Ollerenshaw in Hi-de-Hi! She continued in this role until the programme’s end in 1988. During the run of Hi-de-Hi!  Su also had a singing career, and in 1986, she reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart with the song “Starting Together”,[1][5] the theme song from the BBC Television ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary series The Marriage.

Shortly after Hi-de-Hi! had ended, the writers David Croft and Jimmy Perry chose Su to star as Ivy Teasdale in their new sitcom You Rang, M’Lord?, which starred her Hi-de-Hi! co-stars Paul Shane and Jeffrey Holland. Su also starred in the BBC Radio 2 sitcom For Better or for Worse with Gordon Kaye then from 1995 to 1997 she played Ethel Schumann in another David Croft sitcom Oh, Doctor Beeching!

With her distinctive voice Su voiced the lead character in the BBC children’s television series Penny Crayon. and also voiced Noisy in Little Robots.  Su has  presented Songs of Praise made several appearances on Just a Minute, has appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Masterchef, Pilgrimage: The Road Through Portugal and played herself in the Christmas special of ITV’s hit show Benidorm.