All language subtitles for benny_hill_ex13_i_was_a_hill_s_angel

I started the show when I was 21 and I
had 14 years of absolute glorious fun.

The choreographer at the time, she must
have given my name to Benny because I

didn't know anything about it and I got
a phone call in the morning and I didn't

know who this person was and he started
chattering away, you know, he was sort

of stumbling and, well, yes darling,
well...

looking for girls and need uh that heard
about you and blah blah and i said i'm

sorry who is this and he said uh it's
benny hill darling um are you free for

lunch today and i said uh well um
actually i was thinking very quickly and

said uh i am so is my sister you know so
i thought i don't want to come on my

own and we had a super lunch at
serpentine gallery lots of champagne,

laughs. He seemed very interested in
what we were up to, artist -wise.

I was a professional dancer.

I'd had quite a bit of experience.

He said, yes, you're booked, straight
away. He was a lovely, lovely bloke, he

really was.

And that was my audition, really. It was
kind of, OK, fine.

I seem to remember we went out for a
nice meal.

We had a lovely glass of wine, brilliant
meal.

to do. I mean, I thought, oh, this is
all right.

I was doing a video for Genesis and
Benny Hill happened to be working on the

video with Sue Upton, in fact, who I
think you've been talking to as well.

And we were filming the thing for Phil
Collins and Sue took me to one side and

she said, I'd like you to come and meet
Benny.

I was amazed how warm and friendly and
just how down to earth he was.

He was just an amazing character.

He didn't actually say to me on the day,
oh, I'd like you to come work on the

show. But he sent me this little note
saying it would be great if you could

work on the show a couple of weeks
later.

I think he actually picked quite a few
people in the show, partly, obviously,

the look he wanted, but also I think he
liked to like whoever he was working

with. You know, he was very intuitive,
you know, even in conversation. He had a

good way of picking up people's talents.

One of the first few sketches that I
remember working with Benny, I was

up as a young girl guide and he's
basically, it was quite a funny sketch

actually, and he kept pulling my legs
saying how young I looked.

It was my very first day of filming and
I said, where's my costume? And I was

handed the tiniest little pair of pants.

a bra and suspenders.

And I was like, fine.

And I just remember toupee taping
everything so it didn't move, you know.

Professional, you see there, see the
last.

And I, there was lovely Alison Bell was
in one house, dressed in a sort of

corset, very revealing.

In fact, I was a bit concerned about how
revealing it was.

I was at the top of the house and there
was a ladder.

Benny was the fireman.

And I was in the third house on the
window ledge and there was a genuine

on fire in the middle with an old
elderly fella and his wife desperate for

and Benny and the team arrive and of
course they're so distracted by Alison

Bell's gorgeous figure leaning out of
the window and me teetering on the edge.

Of course, they leave the hapless people
to burn, I think.

It was really funny. The thing is, I was
such a huge Benny fan anyway. I used to

find it difficult not to laugh.

Trying to think about that one, I have a
feeling it was something to do with

jogging. And while I was a jogger, we
were all jumping up and down with milk

bottles. You might know this sketch.

And I think I played a jogger, a traffic
warden, a policewoman.

a peculiar housewife, and we were all
doing odd things, but we had to jog, and

this went on for days that we were
jogging. I think Sue Upton was an old

jogging. Does this ring a bell?

I think that was the first one.

Now, I remember thinking, crikey, is
this what's in store?

Dennis Kirkland, the director, always
had a huge belly laugh after they'd said

cut, you know, and it was a tremendous
family feeling, oddly enough.

It was, it was. Yes, fond, fond
memories.

Everyone there, all the sort of make -up
people, the cameramen, all the

actors actually in the show were just
such nice people.

Oh, it was wonderful.

It was like being a big family there,
really. You know, all the make -up and

wardrobe ladies and all Benny's film
crew, you know, they'd worked with him

years. Working on the set, going back...
Year after year, it was very nice

because it was like a family
environment. We all knew each other, Bob

Henry McGee, who still remains a friend.

It was very nice. It was sort of
something to look forward to.

My wife.

If I don't stop drinking.

I shall miss her.

Bob Todd acted as if he was drunk nearly
all day long, which was quite amusing.

But I think he realised it was to his
advantage because he wasn't obviously,

know, drunk, but he liked to give that
impression.

And Henry McGee is just one of the
world's best gentlemen you could ever

That was a sketch where I sat at the bar
and Bob Todd was there. He had a pipe.

back and forth teeth. I didn't realise
that at the time because sometimes they

wouldn't tell you what they were going
to do and it would be just a horrible

shock.

And I used to say, oh, it's so nice to
meet you, you've got lovely teeth.

And he went, thank you, and he took the
pipe out and the teeth came with it.

You'd always have a laugh with them.

I mean, as I said earlier, I think
Benny, actually it was important to him

he chose people that he liked.

My zip's not undone.

I know, but I bet so far I could make
you take your hat off in the lift.

Yes, I mean, you were always aware he
was there, sort of, even if he wasn't

actually in the sketch, he'd be sort of
watching over you, making sure it was

just right.

When we were rehearsing the dance
numbers, he'd be sitting there and he

carry things in a carrier bag and he'd
be thumbing through papers and the set

and the other and he'd be biting his
nails.

Naughty boy.

Also part of our so -called little
family were Henry McGee, Bob Todd and a

little bald -headed chap called Jackie
Wright.

And Jackie was amazing because you just
simply couldn't understand him.

Here you were working with a little chap
who's in his mid -70s who's an Irishman

who's got a very strong Irish accent and
I think every time anyone tried to

speak to him it was, Jackie, could you
repeat that?

Pardon, Jackie?

Yes, what did you say, Jackie?

I give him his vitamin tonic every day.

I can't think what he does with it if he
doesn't take it.

He was a lovely little character.

Of course, we loved working with the
ladybirds, with Maggie Streder, and if

there was singing and dancing to do.

the hills angels would always be
involved and it would be taken to the

studio and sing along with the maggie
streder singers you know which uh really

sort of that was another great
experience studio singing and then then

to sort of mime to our playback for the
dance routine as well

When we were rehearsing at the rugby
ground, a helicopter arrived one time on

the green there, and Freddie Starr got
out in a white tracksuit. And you have

remember that Benny had arrived probably
on the bus or with a hire cab with a

plastic bag with all his stuff, and you
get Freddie Starr arriving by

helicopter.

He obviously wanted to talk to them
about something. I'm not sure what that

all about, that meeting, but I'll never
forget that. We were all so impressed.

Everything stopped, and we just watched
Freddie Starr doing his kind of...

You know, this white tracksuit. It was
wonderful.

I feel very sad when people say the show
was sexy because it wasn't at all. It

was all done very much tongue -in
-cheek.

And at the end of the day, it was the
sexy girls that always came out on top.

We were never ever the losers.

I'm sorry, really. I have other plans
for tonight.

More important than spending the night
with Superstud?

Oh, come on. What the hell are you doing
with the damn importance?

I'm chairing a meeting to decide who's
going to be made redundant here.

As I said beforehand, Benny absolutely
adores female company.

And every sketch that he actually was
involved with, it was actually him being

the loser.

So how can it be sexist? It was never
anything against women of this world. He

actually loved women of yesterday, today
and tomorrow.

And everything was done so tongue -in
-cheek. I just think people, their own

interpretations often mistook things the
wrong way.

He lived a good life. He liked eating
well.

He wasn't a big drinker because he'd
actually lost a kidney, so he had to be

careful how much he drank.

But he did have a good time. He enjoyed
himself.

And he was very generous to his friends
and the girls, I think.

You know, he would take us out to lunch.
He would take us out for little treats.

And he was a good person to be with. He
was fun.

He was totally at home in the studio.

I think probably part of the reason for
not doing live shows was the costumes.

I mean, he did love the costumes and the
makeup and the whole sort of dressing

up thing, which was sort of all part and
parcel of the show, really.

You know, the different characters
and...

He had such a wide variety of characters
that he could play.

Oh, but he hated to do live work.

I think if he was ever asked to appear
on a show...

he'd be quivering a week beforehand
because he was just so nervous. People

didn't realise that Benny was a very
nervous figure.

And because he actually enjoyed doing
his TV work, he enjoyed his TV work

because he was totally in control.

So if we did a scene and it didn't work
very well, he'd just say, oh, blow it, I

wasn't happy with that, let's do it
again.

And he used to quite rightly say, if I
was in stage, you only ever get one

chance.

When you're filming, you can do a take
half a dozen times.

Ladies and gentlemen, just to say thank
you very much for being with us. You've

been a super audience, and we look
forward to seeing you all again very,

soon. And until... That's very rude.

What? Oh, two minutes.

Two minutes under.

It can't be two. We've never... Excuse
us. We've never been two minutes under.

Yeah, yeah.

What was the pillow say out there?

Get on with it.

But that was because he was a
perfectionist.

And I think he did find it quite
difficult.

People would say, you know, he didn't
seem in the least bit nervous, but he

He wanted to get it absolutely right.

And obviously in front of a studio
audience, you know, if you do something

wrong, you know, you do it again, but
you've done it wrong.

He liked to get it sort of right first
time. So I think he was a little

apprehensive, but, you know, he was
always great.

When you did sketches with him, it was
quite bizarre because I never remember

actually rehearsing with him.

And the one time I did, I had some lines
actually in one of the sketches I did

with him where I was a nurse and he was
playing a deep south kind of old mama in

bed, you know.

And all I remember is the director said
to me, can you do a southern accent,

American southern accent?

And I said, well, I sure can, honey.

And he went, good, right.

And then it wasn't until the night of
the show, I'd been given a script, that

they said, okay,

right, ready to do the sketch.

And in front of an audience.

So you certainly had to be on your toes.
But I think it went very well,

actually. I'm quite proud of myself for
that.

Has the pottery gone yet?

He's gone, but it wasn't the Padre. It
was the doctor.

I thought he was a bit damn familiar for
a Padre.

Have one yourself.

Oh, thank you.

Goddammit. I caught another one of them
damn blackberry ones. I can't stand them

blackberry ones. I just hate them damn
blackberry ones. Mine's a blackberry

I like them fine.

Gee, I can't stand them. I always put
them back.

It was sort of, at the time, you don't
think of it as being fun, but looking

back on it, it was fun. I mean, there
were a lot of laughs. And we used to do

the location work at Thorpe Park, which,
for our American viewers, is a

leisure centre. It's a sort of, you
know, there are rides, it's a park.

And we took over this park for about
three to four weeks every year.

And we did have some hugely funny times.
It nearly always rained. It always

chose to rain while we were doing it.
And we would be walking on duck boards

to our knees in mud, and people rushing
about trying to hose us down.

It was good. It used to get very cold as
well, but we were always having to

smile, you know, troopers.

He used to tell wonderful stories about
girls that worked on the show that had

boyfriends that wanted to control their
careers and things, and he used to say,

and I say to them, what does your
boyfriend know if he's a used car

knows nothing about the business.

Well, I think it was always mixed up.

You know, everything was tongue -in
-cheek, and it was great fun. I have to

I look back very fondly on those days.
It was great, great fun, and there were

some lovely girls that worked on the
show.

I'd love to see them again, you know.