Diana Darvey
Encyclopedia
Diana Magdalene Roloff (21 April 1945 – 11 April 2000), known professionally as Diana Darvey, was a British
actress, singer and dance
r, who is most famous for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show
.
, Pamela Cooper, Diana was raised and educated in Bristol
. Her father died when she was just two, and when she first entered show business
she adopted the surname "Davey" from her mother's second husband (the "r" was added years later).
In 1962, Darvey made her first stage
appearance as a pantomime
dancer in Bath, and a year later became a Butlin's Redcoat
. She then became part of a London
ballet
troupe which travelled Sweden
, Germany
and Spain
. After the tour ended, Darvey settled in Spain, where she became a popular revista
performer under famed Spanish impresario
Colsada. Then for the next several years she appeared in musical theatre
productions in and around Spain. It was during one such performance, in Madrid
in the early 1970s, that she was "discovered" again, this time by British comedian
Benny Hill
. Attracted by her beauty, voice and talent, he was amazed to discover that she was actually British.
-defying costume
s became as famous as her show-stopping performances. While she sang such Continental
music standards as "Sway
", "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás
" and "Perfidia
" on the show, perhaps her most famous number was a four-song medley fronted by "It's Nice to Go Trav'lin'" (which Frank Sinatra
recorded on his 1957 album Come Fly with Me), and also featuring a rendition of Maurice Chevalier
's "Valentine". In the nearly four-minute number, which she sang in English
, French
and Spanish
, Darvey wore a total of four costumes, including as a belly dance
r. She was also known for the "Continental Cabaret" sketch which she performed with Hill and regular sidekick
Jackie Wright
, and which featured a gag involving the word "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
". In addition, she participated in other sketches, including as Hill's girlfriend in a gender-reverse parody
of the 1956 film Baby Doll
, repeating a sketch that Hill had performed in 1965 with Elaine Taylor
.
In total, Darvey appeared on the show five times, the last being on 26 January 1977.
Quick on the Draw and the sitcom
...And Mother Makes Five
, and a role in the 1975 film Carry On Behind
. In the immediate years after her last Hill show appearance, Darvey travelled around the world with her cabaret
act, in tandem with her then-husband, Terry Gittings (who had been a drummer in Georgie Fame
's backing band). For a time in the early 1980s she was based in Miami Beach, Florida
, where by then The Benny Hill Show had become famous in the United States
through syndication. Their marriage ended in divorce a few years later, and Diana later ended up back in England where, at one point, she ran a pub
in Bodicote
, Oxfordshire
. http://knowhere.co.uk/3308_heroes.html
In 1995, Darvey married for a second time, to Ralph Barker
. She died five years later after a fall at her home, aged 54.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress, singer and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
r, who is most famous for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
.
Early life and career
The daughter of a former Windmill GirlWindmill Theatre
The Windmill Theatre, later The Windmill International, was a variety and revue theatre in Great Windmill Street, London. The theatre was famous for its nude tableaux vivants...
, Pamela Cooper, Diana was raised and educated in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. Her father died when she was just two, and when she first entered show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
she adopted the surname "Davey" from her mother's second husband (the "r" was added years later).
In 1962, Darvey made her first stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
appearance as a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
dancer in Bath, and a year later became a Butlin's Redcoat
Redcoats (Butlins)
Redcoat is the name given to frontline staff at Butlins holiday camps. A Redcoat may have many duties ranging from adult entertainer or children's entertainer to stewarding.-History:The first Redcoat was Norman Bradford...
. She then became part of a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
troupe which travelled Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. After the tour ended, Darvey settled in Spain, where she became a popular revista
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
performer under famed Spanish impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
Colsada. Then for the next several years she appeared in musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
productions in and around Spain. It was during one such performance, in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in the early 1970s, that she was "discovered" again, this time by British comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Benny Hill
Benny Hill
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...
. Attracted by her beauty, voice and talent, he was amazed to discover that she was actually British.
The Benny Hill Show
Darvey made her first appearance on The Benny Hill Show on 7 February 1974, and became an instant hit with fans. Her self-designed, often gravityGravitation
Gravitation, or gravity, is a natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to their mass. Gravitation is most familiar as the agent that gives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped...
-defying costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s became as famous as her show-stopping performances. While she sang such Continental
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
music standards as "Sway
Sway (song)
"Sway" is the English version of "¿Quién será?", a 1953 mambo song by Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. The most famous version is that of Dean Martin recorded in 1954. English lyrics are by Norman Gimbel...
", "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás
Quizás, Quizás, Quizás
"Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" , is a popular song by Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farres. Farrés wrote the original Spanish lyrics, as well as composing the 1947 hit...
" and "Perfidia
Perfidia
"Perfidia" is a popular song written by Alberto Domínguez , a Mexican composer and arranger born in the state of Chiapas, about love and betrayal. Aside from the original Spanish, other renditions exist, including English and instrumental versions. The English lyrics are by Milton Leeds...
" on the show, perhaps her most famous number was a four-song medley fronted by "It's Nice to Go Trav'lin'" (which Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
recorded on his 1957 album Come Fly with Me), and also featuring a rendition of Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
's "Valentine". In the nearly four-minute number, which she sang in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Darvey wore a total of four costumes, including as a belly dance
Belly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
r. She was also known for the "Continental Cabaret" sketch which she performed with Hill and regular sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
Jackie Wright
Jackie Wright
John "Jackie" Wright was an Irish comedian, best known for being the bald-headed sidekick of Benny Hill on his television programme for one and a half decades...
, and which featured a gag involving the word "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is an English word, with 34 letters, that was in the song with the same title in the 1964 Disney musical film Mary Poppins. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke...
". In addition, she participated in other sketches, including as Hill's girlfriend in a gender-reverse parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the 1956 film Baby Doll
Baby Doll
Baby Doll is a 1956 black comedy /drama film directed by Elia Kazan. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton...
, repeating a sketch that Hill had performed in 1965 with Elaine Taylor
Elaine Taylor (actress)
Elaine Regina Taylor is an English-born actress, best known as a leading lady in comedy films of the late 1960s and early 70s. She is married to the Canadian actor Christopher Plummer.-Early life:...
.
In total, Darvey appeared on the show five times, the last being on 26 January 1977.
Life after Benny Hill
Darvey parlayed her popularity from The Benny Hill Show to appearances on the game showGame show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Quick on the Draw and the sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
...And Mother Makes Five
...And Mother Makes Five
...And Mother Makes Five is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1974 to 1976. Starring Wendy Craig, it is the sequel of ...And Mother Makes Three and aired for four series. ...And Mother Makes Five was written by Richard Waring, Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. Wendy Craig also wrote some...
, and a role in the 1975 film Carry On Behind
Carry On Behind
Carry On Behind is the twenty-seventh Carry On film and was released in 1975. The film was the first not to feature Sid James since Follow That Camel seven years previously. It was also the first not to be scripted by Talbot Rothwell since Carry On Cruising 13 years previously. James was busy...
. In the immediate years after her last Hill show appearance, Darvey travelled around the world with her cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
act, in tandem with her then-husband, Terry Gittings (who had been a drummer in Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame is a British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player. The one-time rock and roll tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison and Bill Wyman.-Early life:Fame took piano lessons from the...
's backing band). For a time in the early 1980s she was based in Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
, where by then The Benny Hill Show had become famous in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
through syndication. Their marriage ended in divorce a few years later, and Diana later ended up back in England where, at one point, she ran a pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in Bodicote
Bodicote
Bodicote is a village and civil parish south of the centre of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-History:A windmill that stood next to the grove at the top of Bodicote is mentioned in the Domesday Book of AD 1086...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. http://knowhere.co.uk/3308_heroes.html
In 1995, Darvey married for a second time, to Ralph Barker
Ralph Barker
Ralph Hammond Cecil Barker was an English non-fiction author with over twenty-five books to his credit...
. She died five years later after a fall at her home, aged 54.