Before joining the cast of The Benny Hill Show, Sue Upton worked in show business as an actress, dancer, and nightclub singer; she also did modeling work, specializing as a hand and foot model. (Sue says of her modeling career: "I don't think the public realize that models are specified in various parts of the body, and that there's just as much money to be made in showing your hands and your feet as there are in showing anything else!")
In the mid-1970s, Benny Hill was seeking beautiful, talented female performers to form a dance troupe on his show. Sue's agent at the time submitted a photo of her, and Benny invited her to audition. Sue passed the audition, and made her debut on The Benny Hill Show in January 1977. Her comic talent and timing were soon recognized, and she became a respected member of Benny's stock company for the next fourteen years. Besides taking part in the Hill's Angels' sexy dance routines, Sue also played comic character parts such as the geriatric superheroine, "Wonder Gran," and even appeared in drag, playing Stan Laurel to Benny's Oliver Hardy.
During the years Sue appeared on The Benny Hill Show, her relationship with Benny developed from that of an employee to an employer, into a mutual friendship. For that reason, Benny's sudden death in 1992 was a great loss to Sue, and she decided to retire from show business at that time. She does, however, continue to appear on radio shows and television documentaries, talking about Benny and her time on his show with fondness, respect, and affection. (See Sue's Credits for a complete listing of all her known appearances in movies, television, theater, and even a music video.)
Sue currently lives in the county of Essex, east of London, with her husband, their two children, and an "assortment of different animals" including a Bichon Frise puppy and three tortoises. Besides her documentary appearances, she keeps busy with charitable work via the Heritage Foundation. Of Sue's charity work, her talent for selling raffle tickets has attracted considerable praise: one observer notes, "[Sue] sells a mean raffle ticket," while another goes further, saying, "Her raffle-ticket selling skills are legendary - I have succumbed many times myself..."
In Sue's spare time, she enjoys traveling, gardening, cycling, playing and watching tennis, and watching boxing - being a fan of recently-retired heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, in particular. She describes herself as "just an ordinary, nice girl, who likes to laugh, likes to please people, and likes to make them laugh."
Q. Does Sue keep in touch with any
of the other Angels?
Q. Is there an address to send Sue
fan mail?
A. Only with Louise English, one
of her best friends on the show (the other was Jane Leeves).
A. Fan mail for Sue can be sent
to:
Sue Upton
c/o Heritage Foundation
PO Box 24382
London SW17 7FP
England
If a response is wanted, please
enclose a self-addressed envelope (with stamps if mailing from Great Britain;
an International Reply Coupon if mailing from elsewhere).
