Jeffrey Holland

Bill Shorter

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!

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 a 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 is 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.

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

Jeff especially enjoys the Christmas period as he gets to don his frocks as one of Britain’s leading ‘Dames’. His pantomime work includes over thirty seasons at most major theatres all over the U.K.

This is Jeff’s first visit to Vienna and he is looking forward to a very happy season.