Actor and star of Hi-de-Hi!

Born: July 9, 1937;

Died: April 28, 2016

BARRY Howard, who has died of cancer aged 78, was a comic actor best known for playing the camp ballroom dancer in Hi-de-Hi!, the BBC sitcom set in a holiday camp. He was also celebrated for his Ugly Sister double act with his friend John Inman, of Are You Being Served? fame, but there was a certain inevitability about his part in Hi-de-Hi! as one of his early jobs was working as an entertainer at the Butlin's holiday camp in Ayr.

His role in Hi-de-Hi! was Barry Stuart-Hargreaves, a central member of the Maplin’s yellow-coated entertainment team who partnered his snooty wife Yvonne (played by Dianne Holland) in ballroom dances. The two were often sent up by the other entertainers but they somehow managed to preserve their dignity.

The series, which was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army, ran for seven series from 1980 to 1988, although Howard did not appear in the final two - he had been struggling with alcoholism and was not well enough to appear. "I used to drink more than was good for me in those days," he said, "and got into trouble for shoving one of the yellowcoats into the pool."

Later, though, he was seen in several other television shows, including You Rang, M'Lord - which was also written by Perry and Croft and featured many of the original Hi-de-Hi! cast - and the ITV sit-com The House of Windsor. He also had the small part of Oliver Barnes in the Doctor Who Christmas special in 2009.

Barry Frederick Howard was born in Nottingham and after attending a local school did national service in the Royal Air Force. Initially he worked backstage at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham to pay the fees for his two years at Birmingham Theatre School.

His first job on graduating was as an entertainer at Butlin’s Ayr holiday camp. During his time there the camp expanded and had a strong Scottish identity – the entire camp was woken by the skirl of the pipes, although the weather was always a challenge.

"It had been a very bad spring once," said Howard, "and there were no flowers anywhere and Butlin's had workmen up ladders putting plastic blossoms on the trees just to pretty the place up for the first influx of holidaymakers."

Howard was never actually a Redcoat though – instead he was a member of the entertainment team. "I was never a Redcoat because in those days holiday camps, as well as a variety theatre, had a playhouse theatre where we did six days in rep for the summer," he said. "Most were comedies and there was one thriller, reduced to an hour-and-a-half in case the audience got bored with the effort of concentrating. I recall you were just about to get to revealing who the murderer was and there would a clatter in the corner and there would be an announcement that a baby was crying in one of the chalets, so there wasn't a lot of reverence really."

After his time at Butlin's, Howard worked extensively in touring theatre and in 1964 he was cast in the touring production of Salad Days – which toured throughout Scotland. Also in the cast was another future star John Inman. The two became firm friends and created a double act as the two Ugly Sisters in pantomime. They played all the large theatres in England until Inman’s schedule on Are You Being Served? somewhat reduced his availability. Howard remained a popular figure in pantomimes and summer seasons for many years.

Howard was also seen in the straight theatre – he was a noted Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night in the west end and was Mr Sowerberry in the first national tour of Oliver!

Other major tours (all of which came to Scotland) included The Rocky Horror Show (as the Narrator) and in 2003 he made a memorable impression as Jacob Marley opposite Tommy Steele’s Ebenezer in Scrooge – The Musical which was also seen at the London Palladium.

Despite increasing ill health, Howard continued to work and last year, played Frank Butcher in Radio 4’s Fags, Mags and Bags.

However, it is as the grand ballroom dancer/instructor for which he will be remembered. Resplendent in white tie and tails, he glided across the floor of Maplin’s ballroom with a resigned grace, well realising that his career had somehow landed up in an Essex holiday camp with a hoity-toity wife. His nostrils would flare and his eyes stare in horror at all Paul Shane’s (Ted Bovis) acerbic put-downs.

He did not appear in the 1980s stage production of Hi-de-Hi!, although he was one of only two original cast members to appear in a stage version of the show in 2010. He overcame a drink problem with great tenacity and faced his illness in similar vein.

ALASDAIR STEVEN