J’AIME JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022

e a bit personal, I’d have to think on
my feet because these things can be
misinterpreted. You have to be a bit
careful, but I wouldn’t want to be totally
censored. I’d like to be as honest as I
can.”
Born in Nottingham in 1949, Su
embraced the freedom of growing up
in the Midlands in the 50s and 60s. The
tour will visit intimate venues of around
400 seats including The Palace Theatre
in nearby Newark, but won’t quite
take her back to Nottingham, where
she discovered a lifelong love of the
entertainment business.
“I’d go three times a week to the local
amateur theatre group and it was
terrific,” she says. “I started when I
was 11. I love Nottingham; it’s a great,
vibrant city in my view, but equally I
wouldn’t want to leave London because I
really love it here.”
Despite a staggering list of TV, film,
West End, theatre and pantomime
appearances (not to mention a hit single)
many people still know Su best as Peggy,
the chalet maid and eventual Yellowcoat,
from Hi-De-Hi. The show aired between
1980 and 1988 and made Su a household
name. She believes there is a simple
reason for its enduring popularity.
“I think it was because it had a lot of
heart to it - it was real,” she says. “I
mean, I know it was high comedy but it was all about
people that wanted to better themselves. Look at
poor Yvonne and Barry - terrible snobs, but they
were trying to get on in life - and so was poor old Ted
Bovis. All Gladys wanted to do was love and be loved
in return.
“And because it was silly kind of stuff, anyone could
love it - eight-year-olds could love it and so could
80-year-olds. The characters were probably like your
friends in real life. We’ve all known a Gladys, and
we’ve all known a Miss Cathcart.”
From acting to singing to writing, Su has done it all
over the course of her career. For her, the medium
is secondary as long as the topic is interesting.
The acclaimed one-woman hit play Harpy has
been a particular highlight, in which she explores
her character’s struggles with mental health and
loneliness, as manifested through extreme hoarding.
“Harpy is an old-fashioned word for somebody, like
SU POLLARD BRING
HER ‘AN AUDIENCE
WITH...’ TOUR TO
TAMWORTH THIS
MONTH
a bird, that swoops down and grabs everything and
takes it back to its nest - so a hoarder, basically,” she
explains. “The writer, Philip Meeks, did ever such a
lot of research. There are millions and millions of
hoarders around the world, so it’s always going to be
relevant. It’s usually to do with something the person
has lost years and years before. It goes much deeper
than just keeping stuff. I loved doing that play.”
Su counts Les Dennis and her Hi-De-Hi colleagues
as some of those she has most enjoyed working with,
feeling very fortunate to have worked with so many
like-minded people who take their work seriously, but
have fun as well: “Every day, if you can, you make
life as pleasurable as you can for yourself and other
people, I think. If you’re working together you have a
duty to do that.”
The energetic, bubbly and colourful Su you see on
screen is very much what you get in real life: “I do
like to be on the go, as it were. Even when I walk, I
walk fast. But equally, when I do get some downtime
www.jaimemagazine.com
7