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He is well known for playing loveable slob Onslow in the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995); and "Twiggy" in the sitcom The Royle Family, playing the part from 1998 to 2008. From 2001 to 2005 he played conman and rogue businessman Vernon Scripps in the ITV police drama Heartbeat , taking over as the show's main rogue from Bill Maynard 's Claude Greengrass, and returning to the ...
- Overview
- Life and career
- Personal interests
Geoffrey Hughes DL (2 February 1944 – 27 July 2012) was an English actor, best known for his roles as Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances, Eddie Yates in Coronation Street, Vernon Scripps in Heartbeat and as the voice of Paul McCartney in the animated film
Geoffrey Hughes was born in Wallasey on the Wirral, Cheshire in 1944, the son of Welshman Bill Hughes, a Liverpool docker, and his Scottish wife, Ada and had one younger brother, Gordon. He was brought up in Liverpool, where he attended Ranworth Square Primary School. He then went to Abbotsford Secondary Modern School in Norris Green, Liverpool where his English teacher, with whom he got on well with encouraged Hughes to pursue acting as a career.
Hughes initially worked as a car salesman upon leaving school, but developed an interest in acting and was part of the Merseyside Unity Theatre in his spare time. It was here that he was spotted in the audience by actor Tom Bell and playwright Alun Owen. Hughes then started his career as a professional actor with a repertory company at the Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent.
However, six months later, he took up Bell's offer and within a year he was starring at the West End's Adelphi Theatre in the Lionel Bart and Alun Owen musical Maggie May, about trade union disputes in Liverpool's dockland. He went on to make regular appearances in West End productions like Say Goodnight to Grandma at the St Martin's Theatre in 1973; Run for your Wife at the Criterion Theatre in 1984; The Secret Life of Cartoons at the Aldwych Theatre in 1986 and Noel Cowerd's Semi-Mondeat the Royalty Theatre in 1987.
Soon afterwards came a couple of episodes of The Likely Lads, Hughes' first television role in 1966. Small roles that followed were those in An Arrow for Little Audrey; The Saint; Shadows of Fear and Z-Cars, but Hughes' big break came when he did the voice of Paul McCartney in the Beatles' cartoon film Yellow Submarine in 1968. Hughes then had a recurring role in Johnny Speight's controversial sitcom Curry and Chips in 1969.This production, which also starred comedy legends Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan, was axed after just six episodes. Hughes would frequently appear in one-off supporting roles in many of the popular television shows of the time. These included Harper in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in 1970; Piteous in Up Pompeii! in 1970 and a corporal in Dad's Army in 1972. Hughes appeared in Carry On At Your Convenience in 1971 as friendly toilet factory worker Willie. It was, however, Hughes' role as lovable binman Eddie Yeats in 53 episodes of Coronation Street, from 1974 until 1983, that stole the viewing public's hearts. Eddie was an ex-criminal who wanted to get back onto the straight and narrow. He appeared in just the one episode in 1974 and 3 episodes in 1975, the year Hughes married his wife Sue, but by the end of 1976, the soap's producers realised that he could become a major character. He eventually became a lodger with Hilda and Stan Ogden (played by Jean Alexander and Bernard Youens respectively), who treated him like their own son. Eddie had lots of major storylines, and Hughes’ strength was that he portrayed the character as kind-hearted, if a little dim, particularly when it came to Hilda Ogden.
Eddie helped out on Stan’s window-cleaning round, and the pair often embarked on get-rich-quick schemes, including hiring out a timid guard dog, selling Albert Tatlock's allotment vegetables and brewing their own beer in the bath. In 1976 it was Eddie Yeats who was responsible for the famous mural (or 'murial' as Hilda called it) that adorned the Ogdens’ living room wall. By 1983, Hughes became concerned that he was regarded as Eddie Yeats rather than as an actor who could play other parts. He also felt that his weekly trips to the Granada studios in Manchester were keeping him away too long from his family and farm in Northants. The producers wrote him out of the script when Eddie married flower shop assistant Marion Willis (played by Veronica Doran) and they moved to Bury. Eddie did return for two more episodes in 1987, to visit Hilda Ogden in hospital.Type-casting wasn't a problem for Hughes, and he continued to work regularly throughout the 1980s. He found a variety of roles in many different TV series. There was the lead role of prison warder Mr Lithgow in The Bright Side in 1985; villainous Victorian Mr Popplewick in Doctor Who in 1986 opposite Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor; Fred Kendall in You Rang, M'Lord? in 1990 and as Roy Hartley in Coasting to name but a few.
Ahead of him, Hughes had recurring roles in several high-profile, long-running series which kept him in work permanently. The first of these came in 1990, as Onslow in all 44 episodes of Roy Clarke's extremely popular sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. Onslow was the lazy, slobbish but lovable brother-in-law of super snob Hyacinth Bucket (played by Patricia Routledge) who was married to Hyacinth's sister Daisy (played by Judy Cornwell) and proved to be a frequent embarrassment to her. Owing to his success in the role, the character of Onslow was regarded as the most popular character of the series. Hughes would play the role alongside comedy stars Josephine Tewson, Clive Swift, Mary Millar and David Griffin until the show's end in 1995, but returned for a short "best bits" special episode in 1997.
Hughes' off-stage interests were sailing, golf, cricket, rock music, trees and beer. He was also the Honorary Squire of the Dartington Morris Men and made an appearance at the Dartington Morris Ring meeting in September 2008. His musical interests included British folk rock and he compered at Fairport's Cropredy Convention annual music festival sev...
May 17, 2022 · Geoffrey Hughes, who played Onslow throughout the entire five-season run of "Keeping Up Appearances," began his career on stage and appearing in episodic TV, with stints on "The Saint" and "Z Cars ...
Geoffrey began his extensive stage career at the Unity Theatre in Liverpool. He then appeared in several West End productions, such as Say Goodnight to Grandma and Run for Your Wife. He appeared in numerous TV shows, including Coronation Street (1960) and Keeping Up Appearances (1990), where he played the slob Onslow.
- Actor, Soundtrack
- February 2, 1944
- 1 min
- July 27, 2012
- Hyacinth's china pattern, described as "Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles", is actually a pattern called "Braganza" and was manufactured by The Colclough China Company.
- Two cast members died within two months of each other in 1998. Mary Millar (played Rose from 1991 to 1995) on 10 November 1998 due to ovarian cancer. George Webb (Daddy) died on 30 December 1998, of natural causes.
- Exterior shots around Hyacinth's house were taped in Binley Woods, Warwickshire, a village east of Coventry. Bucket's Residence Street View. Exterior shots around Daisy and Onslow's council terrace were taped in Stoke Aldermoor in Coventry.
- The "FH" on Onslow's hat stands for "Fulton Hogan Ltd.," a New Zealand asphalt and road-building company. When Geoffrey Hughes was there promoting a show, he was given that hat by one of the company's truck drivers.
Jul 30, 2012 · Geoffrey Hughes, who played the chronically slothful Onslow on the long-syndicated Britcom "Keeping Up Appearances", has died. He was 68, and died on July 27 of prostate cancer, with which he was first diagnosed in 1996, according to Britain's Mirror. Like the characters in which he specialized, Hughes belonged firmly to Britain's working class ...
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Mar 17, 2022 · Geoffrey Hughes (Onslow) ... Coronation Street star Hughes was slob Onslow. After Keeping Up Appearances he starred as Twiggy in The Royle Family, who was always shifting stolen goods and swigging ...
