Diane Holland

Born in Melbourne, Australia as June Diane Neeltje Holland, she was raised in England, where she would live for the remainder of her life. She was partly Dutch through her paternal ancestry. On arrival in Britain, the family was hampered by her father's ill-health, the after-effects of having been gassed in the trenches during World War I.[2]

She trained as a dancer at London Cone Ripman (now Arts Educational), and enjoyed success throughout her career, before being given the part of ballroom dancer Yvonne Stuart-Hargreaves in Hi-de-Hi! (1980) by her brother-in-law, Jimmy Perry. Perry, who co-wrote Hi-de-hi!, married Holland's sister Gilda, and saw Holland's talent. She also played the recurring role of Sarah Maynard in Crossroads from 1964–70.[1] At the peak of Hi-de-Hi! in the 1980s, Holland received a letter from British troops in the Falklands and it "just snowballed", with her becoming a Forces' sweetheart.[3]

Following the end of Hi-de-Hi! in 1990 she appeared in Central Television's comedy The Upper Hand. In 1992–93, she played the notoriously outrageous female magistrate, Celia Littlewood, in Grace and Favour, the sequel to Are You Being Served.

One of her last appearances was in one of her favourite roles as maiden aunt The Nutcracker in Covent Garden, a role she had played for many years. She also received critical acclaim for her role as a terminally ill patient in Casualty in 2001. She also appeared in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em as a maternity hospital receptionist.[4]

Holland lived in Godstone, in the county of Surrey, where she died at home on 24 January 2009 at the age of 78 after contracting bronchial pneumonia. Her burial place is unknown, but is falsely claimed to be the graveyard of St. Nicholas' Church in Godstone.[5] She never married or had children. The news of her death was not made public until more than three weeks later. She was survived by her younger sister, Mrs. Gilda Neeltje Perry, a former actress.[6]

• Diane Holland at IMDb