Jeffrey Holland

Jeffrey is probably best known for his portrayal of Spike in BBC TV’s Hi-De-Hi!, also the stuffy footman James Twelvetrees in the hugely successful You Rang M’Lord? And more recently as Mr. Parkin the Stationmaster in Oh, Dr. Beeching!

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Born in Walsall, West Midlands, he trained in Birmingham and began his career with four and a half years in repertory at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry where he eventually finished up as leading character man. 

 

His theatre work is extensive and includes seasons at the Chichester Festival and the Edinburgh Festival. He also appeared in the much loved stage production of television’s Dad’s Army in which he took over as the spiv, Private Walker. His many summer seasons include the stage production of Hi-De-Hi!Which also enjoyed a successful run at London’s Victoria Palace theatre in 1984. Other West End work includes Run For Your Wife at the Criterion theatre and Travels With My Aunt at the Whitehall.

 

He was a regular member of the cast of Radio Two’s Russ Abbot Show and has frequently appeared in radio shows such as Weekending, Crowned Hudds and many more. He recently had the pleasure of re-creating the Peter Sellers characters in “Goon Again”, a 50th. Anniversary tribute to “The Goon Show” for the BBC.

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His first TV role was in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green and his television work includes both comedy and drama with such shows as It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum, Are You Being Served?, Dad’s Army, The Mayor of Casterbridge and Russ Abbot’s Madhouse.

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He has also appeared in three of BBC 2’s Shakespeare productions Richard ll, As You Like It and Henry V.

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He appeared in a highly successful run of “Talent” written and directed by Victoria Wood at The Menier Chocolate Factory in London and more recently he toured the UK in a stage production of the popular TV sitcom “Waiting for God” playing Tom Ballard. This was followed by a production of “Brassed Off” at the Wolverhampton Grand in which he played Danny.

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His one-man show, “…and this is my friend Mr Laurel”, a play about legendary film comedian Stan Laurel, enjoyed three sell-out seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014, 2015 and 2018 and was followed by a UK tour.

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Jeff especially enjoys the Christmas period as he gets to don his frocks as one of Britain’s leading “Dames”. His pantomime work has seen him in well over 40 seasons and he has worked at most major theatres all over the U.K.