Editing Hugh Paddick (section)

==Biography==
Born in [[Hoddesdon]], Hertfordshire, Paddick preferred theatre to any other form of acting and spent most of his life on the stage, from his first role at acting school in 1937<ref name="times">{{Cite web|url=http://www.galeuk.com/times/|title=Gale/Times Digital Archive|date=6 September 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030906202207/http://www.galeuk.com/times/ |archive-date=6 September 2003 }}</ref> until his retirement. He appeared in the original Drury Lane production of ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' as Colonel Pickering. He was an accomplished musician – singer, pianist and organist. He can be heard at the piano accompanying Julian and Sandy in several of their sketches on both ''Round the Horne'' and ''The Bona World of Julian and Sandy''.

In his diaries, [[Kenneth Williams]], so often scathing of his colleagues, spoke warmly of Paddick's kindness as a man, and of his "subtlety and brilliance" as a performer.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/13/guardianobituaries1 |title=Hugh Paddick obituary|work=The Guardian |location= London |date=13 November 2000 }}</ref>

Paddick was gay<ref name="polari">{{Cite news |title= What brings you trolling back, then? |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/17/gayrights.comment |first=Colin |last=Richardson |work=The Guardian |location= London |date=17 January 2005 |access-date=31 January 2008 }}</ref> and lived for over thirty years with his partner Francis, whom he met at a party in London.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.hingeandbracket-official.co.uk/Stars%20Of%20PAGES/Hugh_Paddick.htm |title=Biography of Hugh Paddick |access-date=8 August 2008 |last=Dunford |first=Paul |author2=Logan, George |author3=Fyffe, Patrick |date=10 June 2008 |work=hingeandbracket-official.co.uk |publisher=Paul Dunford}}</ref> Paddick was very guarded about his privacy, and he and his partner were keen gardeners at their home in Bedfordshire.<ref>[https://www.comedy.co.uk/features/comedy_chronicles/hugh-paddick/ The Quiet One: The understated art of Hugh Paddick]. ''Comedy Chronicles'', by Graham McCann. 26 January 2025.</ref>

He was distantly related to [[Brian Paddick]], now Lord Paddick, Britain's first openly gay police [[commander]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Paddick died in [[Milton Keynes]], Buckinghamshire, on 9 November 2000, aged 85.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-56159-027 |title=Wills and Probate Notices: Hugh Paddick |access-date=7 March 2021 |date=27 March 2001 |work=[[The London Gazette]]}}</ref>

===In popular culture===
In the 2006 BBC television film ''[[Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!]]'', about the life of Williams, Paddick was portrayed by [[Guy Henry (actor)|Guy Henry]].