Barry Frederick Howard (9 July 1937 – 28 April 2016) was an English

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He was best known for his role as Barry Stuart-Hargreaves in the first seven series of the long-running BBC sitcom ''

Hi-de-Hi! ''Hi-de-Hi!'' is a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988. Set in 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote '' Dad's Army'' an ...

'', in which his deadpan comedy style and classic facial expressions made him a popular character.

Life and career

Howard was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. While completing his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, Howard found himself wanting to train for the theatre at the Birmingham Theatre School. Unable to gain a grant from the local authority, he worked for almost two years at the Alexandra Theatre in a backstage role to fund his place at

drama school A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

. Howard appeared in ''

Terry and June ''Terry and June'' is a BBC television sitcom, which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The show was largely a reworking of '' Happy Ever After'', and starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-aged, middle-class suburban couple, T ...

'', '' You Rang, M'Lord?'', ''The House of Windsor'' and '' Dad'', in addition to ''

'' In 2004, Howard played the character of Geoffrey in the short film ''Open Casket''. In November 2009, he appeared in an episode of the BBC comedy ''Beautiful People''. Howard appeared in '' Doctor Who'', in its 2009 two-part Christmas special, as driver of the mini-bus containing the old age pensioners' group seeking the Doctor.
In 2012, Howard appeared in the fifth series of the BBC Radio 4 comedy ''

Fags, Mags and Bags ''Fags, Mags and Bags'' is a Scottish radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Its first series was nominated for a Sony Radio Award. The writers, Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary, received a Writers Guild Award in November 2008 for Radio ...

'' as Frank Butcher. In 2015, he provided the voice of the lead character in

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's sitcom ''Mr Snufflesworth'', a live action comedy starring a dachshund dog who lives in South London. Howard was also a stage actor, and was half of one of the most celebrated Ugly Sister acts in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

regularly appearing opposite

John Inman Frederick John Inman (28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007) was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in '' Are You Being Served?'', a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and was the only actor from that series to featu ...

Death

Howard died from

blood cancer Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are all ...

, aged 78, on 28 April 2016, at his home in Poole,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

Television roles

* Ghost Squad as Bartender * You Must Be Joking! as car salesman * His Favourite family *

ITV Play ITV Play was a short-lived 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued as a strand on the main ITV Network until December 2007. It was launched as a standalone channel on Freeview ...

as Ugly Sister *

as Cochran's *''

'' as Barry Stuart-Hargreaves * You Rang, M'Lord? as Count Zarkhov *'' The House of Windsor'' as Danny Jackson * Dad as Mr Nigel * Open Casket as Geoffrey * Beautiful People as Monsieur Antoine * Doctor Who as Oliver Barnes

References

External links

*
Obituary - BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Barry 1937 births 2016 deaths Actors from Nottingham English male stage actors English male television actors Male actors from Nottinghamshire Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from blood cancer Royal Navy sailors 20th-century Royal Navy personnel Military personnel from Nottingham