Su Pollard

Pollard was born in Nottingham, the eldest daughter of Don and Hilda Pollard.[1] Her interest in acting began at the age of six when she played an angel in a school nativity play.[2] She attended Berridge Road School (Hyson Green) and Peveril Bilateral School, Robin's Wood Road[3] (now Nottingham Girls' Academy). After leaving school at the age of 16, she got a job at the Tennant Rubber Company in Carlton as a shorthand typist and began singing in working men's clubs and charity shows.[4]

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

She 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, won a role 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!

Pollard's first comedy role was in a BBC series screened in 1979 entitled Two Up, Two Down, in which she played a hippy named Flo. Paul Nicholas played her partner, Jimmy, both of whom were squatting in the house of a nice middle-class couple. It only lasted for one series, but then later that year came the pilot programme for a new BBC comedy written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft set in a holiday camp. Pollard 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! Pollard 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. It was her only Top 40 hit; her first single, "Come To Me (I Am Woman)", had reached No. 71 in 1985 and her only charting album, Su, peaked at No. 86 in the UK Albums Chart in November 1986.[5] In 1987, she toured the UK with The Su Pollard Show[1] and co-hosted It's a Royal Knockout.

She starred in the stage production of Hi De Hi! - The Holiday Musical, along with almost all of the cast from the television series, played sell out seasons in Bournemouth, London and Blackpool. In 1985 she 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 at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing.

Shortly after Hi-de-Hi! had ended, the writers David Croft and Jimmy Perry chose Pollard 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. This period sitcom ran from 1988 to 1993. In 1988, she won the "Rear of the Year" award. In 1989, she hosted the short-lived ITV game show Take the Plunge, which was cancelled after one season. From 1993 until 1996, Pollard starred opposite Gorden Kaye in For Better or for Worse, a BBC Radio 2 sitcom about an engaged-to-be-married couple.[6][7]

In 1995, she took over as the face of the National Egg Awareness Campaign. From 1995 to 1997 she played Ethel Schumann in another David Croft sitcom Oh, Doctor Beeching! From 1989 to 1990, her distinctive voice voiced the lead character in the BBC children's television series Penny Crayon.

More recently, Pollard made a guest appearance in Gimme Gimme Gimme in 2001 and voiced Noisy in Little Robots. In 2001, she presented Songs of Praise three times. She has made four appearances on Just a Minute, and also regularly appears in pantomimes and other stage shows,[1] including Annie and The Pirates of Penzance. In 2008, Pollard starred in the musical Shout! alongside Claire Sweeney. From April 2009, Pollard appeared in the London transfer of Shout! at the Arts Theatre. In December 2010, Pollard had a guest role in the Christmas special of ITV's hit show Benidorm, playing herself. In December 2011, Pollard appeared as a guest on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.

In the 2012 movie Run For Your Wife she had a cameo role as the newsagent. She starred in Who's Doing the Dishes? in September 2016. In 2018 she appeared in ITV's Last Laugh in Vegas.

In pantomime, Pollard appears mainly as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, appearing in recent years at Sunderland,[8] Blackpool,[9] Tunbridge Wells,[10] Aylesbury[11] and Malvern.[12]

In 2019, Pollard starred as Queen Rat in Dick Whittington in Wolverhampton, alongside her Hi-de-Hi! co star Jeffrey Holland.[13]

Pollard was one of a group of seven celebrities that entered in Pilgrimage: The Road Through Portugal, a BBC Two series on a pilgrimage to Fátima, Portugal.[14]

Pollard was married to Peter Keogh from 1984 to 1992.[15] In 2014, Keogh published his memoir, My Hi-de-High Life: Before, During and After Su Pollard.[16]

Pollard is related to journalist and former Blue Peter presenter Liz Barker and is a supporter of Nottingham Forest football club.[1]

• 1974/75: Godspell National Tour
• 1975: The Desert Song National Tour
• 1976: Rose-Marie National Tour
• 1977: Oh Mr Porter! Mermaid Theatre
• 1978: Big Sin City National Tour
• 1979: Grease Astoria Theatre, as Cha-Cha
• 1979: Grease National Tour, as Cha-Cha
• 1981: Philately Will Get You Nowhere
• 1981: Not Now Darling Plymouth Hoe Theatre, as Janie
• 1983: Hi-de-Hi! The Holiday Musical Bournemouth, as Peggy
• 1983/84: Hi-de-Hi! The Holiday Musical Victoria Palace, London, as Peggy
• 1984: Hi-de-Hi! The Holiday Musical Opera House, Blackpool, as Peggy
• 1985: Babes in Arms National Tour, as Bunny Byron
• 1985/86: Me and My Girl Adelphi Theatre, as Sally Smith
• 1986: Sweet Charity Connaught Theatre Season, as Charity Hope
• 1986: Sweet Charity National Tour, as Charity Hope
• 1987: The Su Pollard Show National Tour
• 1987: A Song, A Frock and A Tinkle Donmar Warehouse
• 1987: A Song, A Frock and A Tinkle National Tour
• 1991: Don't Dress For Dinner National Tour, as Suzette
• 1991: Don't Dress For Dinner New Zealand Tour, as Suzette
• 1992: The Good Sex Guide Revue New Zealand Tour
• 1993: Harbeas Corpus Far East Tour
• 1994: Little Shop Of Horrors National Tour, as Audrey
• 1995: Blackpool's Biggest Show North Pier Blackpool
• 1997: That's Showbiz Wimbledon Theatre, as Pam
• 1998: See How They Run Bournemouth Summer Season, as Miss Skillon
• 1998: See How They Run National Tour, as Miss Skillon
• 2000: Abigail's Party National Tour, as Angela
• 2001: The Pirates Of Penzance National Tour, as Pirate Maid Ruth
• 2002/03: Annie National Tour, as Miss Hannigan
• 2003: The Vagina Monologues National Tour
• 2004: A Happy Medium National Tour, as Ellen Small
• 2004: Annie National Tour, as Miss Hannigan
• 2005: The Vagina Monologues National Tour
• 2006: Romeo and Juliet National Tour, as The Nurse
• 2006: The Vagina Monologues National Tour
• 2007: Menopause The Musical Shaw Theatre, as
• 2008: Shout! The Swinging 60s Musical National Tour, as Aunt Yvonne
• 2009: Shout! The Swinging 60s Musical Arts Theatre, as Aunt Yvonne
• 2009: Annie National Tour, as Miss Hannigan
• 2010: Annie National Tour, as Miss Hannigan
• 2011: Annie National Tour, as Miss Hannigan
• 2012: Annie Hong Kong/Singapore, as Miss Hannigan
• 2014: Annie New Zealand Tour, as Miss Hannigan
• 2014: Ha Ha Hood! And The Prince Of Leaves National Tour, as Maid Marian
• 2015: In Conversation With Tim Macarthur
• 2017: La Voi Meets Su Pollard
• 2018: Harpy Edinburgh Fringe, as Birdie
• 2019 “Dick Whittington” Wolverhampton Grand Theatre as Queen Rat
• 2020: Harpy National Tour, as Birdie

• Official Su Pollard website
• Su Pollard at IMDb