Diane Holland

Who was Diane Holland?

Diane Holland was a British actress.

She was unmarried and trained as a dancer before being given the part of Yvonne Stewart-Hargreaves in Hi-de-Hi! by her brother-in-law, Jimmy Perry. Jimmy, who co-wrote Hi-de-hi!, married Diane's sister Gilda, and saw Diane's talent. She also played the recurring role of Sarah Maynard in Crossroads from 1964-70.

At the peak of Hi-de-Hi! in the '80s, Diane received a letter from a troop in the Falklands and it "just snowballed". She became a forces sweetheart. Following Hi-de-Hi!, in 1990, she appeared in Central Television's comedy The Upper Hand. Diane also played, in 1992 and 1993, the notoriously outrageous female Magistrate, Celia Littlewood, in Grace and Favour, the sequel to the long running comedy, Are You Being Served. One of her last appearances included The Nutcracker in Covent Garden. She also appeared in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em as a maternity hospital receptionist.

She lived in Godstone, Surrey and died on 24 January 2009 at the age of 78 after suffering from bronchial pneumonia. The news of her death was not made public until more than three weeks later.