Introduction

Sue Hodge is an English actress, singer, dancer, director and writer best known for playing Mimi Labonq in the BBC comedy ’Allo ’Allo!.

That role made her familiar worldwide.

But it tells only part of the story.

Hodge started performing professionally while still young. Dance came first. Theatre followed. Television brought wider recognition, while later years saw her work on stage, in live shows, on cruises, as a director and as an author.

Her official website says her entertainment career began at around 14 years old and has included television, film, theatre, writing and charity work.

Quick Facts

Fact	Detail
Name	Sue Hodge
Birthplace	Essex, England
Nationality	British
Profession	Actress, singer, dancer, director and writer
Best known for	Mimi Labonq in ’Allo ’Allo!
Career start	Professional work from her early teens
Famous TV series	’Allo ’Allo!
Notable film work	Brazil
Stage work	Musicals, comedy, drama and touring productions
Book	Mimi’s Memoirs
Live show	Mimi & the Boy / Mimi-related live appearances
Husband	Keith “Paddington” Richards
Net worth	Not publicly verified
Parents	Not reliably documented publicly
Children	Not reliably documented publicly

Early Life in Essex

Sue Hodge was born in Essex, England.

Her official website does not publish detailed information about her parents or wider family, so those details are best left private rather than guessed.

Performance entered her life early.

She attended the Gillian Farr School of Dance, giving her a base in movement and stage performance before television became part of her career.

Her professional site says she was discovered by Gerry Jerome, who put her into Jack and the Beanstalk with Crackerjack performer Peter Glaze when Hodge was around 15.

That was an early step.

More followed quickly.

She had already entered professional entertainment at about 14 and appeared on the BBC’s The Dick Emery Show, according to her official profile.

Dance and Stage Training

Dance mattered from the start.

Hodge did not arrive on television with no stage background. Her early training helped give her the physical confidence that later fitted broad comedy, musical theatre and the highly physical character of Mimi.

She learned acting through work too.

Stage jobs meant timing. Movement. Voice.

And repetition.

Those skills became useful once she moved between musicals, comedy, drama, television and touring productions.

Her early theatre work included being cast by producer Bill Kenwright, helping establish a professional stage career before her best-known BBC role.

Building a Career in Theatre

Before Mimi Labonq became her public identity, Sue Hodge had already worked across different forms of theatre.

She performed in musicals.

She acted in comedy.

She worked in touring productions.

And she kept dancing.

Her stage background included work connected with productions such as Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show.

That range matters.

Hodge was never simply a sitcom performer who later tried theatre. Stage work was already part of her professional base.

Over the years she worked with a number of familiar British performers and continued returning to live theatre even after television gave her wider fame.

Film Work Before Her Biggest TV Role

Hodge also appeared on film.

One of her notable screen credits came in Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film Brazil.

The film arrived shortly before the television role that would become closely tied to her name.

Her screen career was never as extensive as her stage career, but Brazil remains an interesting part of her work because it places her inside one of the better-known British films of the 1980s.

Mimi Labonq Changed Everything

Then came Mimi.

Sue Hodge joined ’Allo ’Allo! as Mimi Labonq, one of the resistance-linked characters working around René Artois and his café.

BBC programme records directly identify Sue Hodge as Mimi Labonq alongside Gorden Kaye as René Artois, Carmen Silvera as Edith and the show’s other regular cast members.

Mimi was small but fierce.

Very fierce.

Her physical size became part of the comedy, but the character was rarely written as timid.

Quite the opposite.

Mimi could be aggressive, energetic and intensely devoted to René. Her exaggerated personality fitted naturally into a sitcom built around absurd wartime situations, misunderstandings, disguises and running jokes.

The character gave Hodge international recognition.

Her official website says ’Allo ’Allo! was seen in more than 95 countries and credits Mimi with bringing her worldwide recognition.

Why Mimi Labonq Became So Memorable

Mimi worked because she was instantly recognisable.

The character had attitude.

She moved quickly.

She spoke sharply.

And she frequently found herself caught inside ridiculous situations.

That physical side of the role matched Hodge’s dance and theatre background well.

Mimi was also surrounded by characters who became strongly associated with the programme, including René, Edith, Yvette, Michelle, Lieutenant Gruber, Herr Flick, Helga and Officer Crabtree.

Hodge became part of that familiar ensemble during the later run of the series.

For many viewers, Mimi remains her defining screen role.

Taking ’Allo ’Allo! to the Stage

The story did not stop with television.

Hodge also played Mimi in stage productions of ’Allo ’Allo!.

The stage version became another major part of her connection with the character, including performances associated with the London Palladium and international productions.

A later Encore Theatre Company production described Hodge as an original star of both the BBC series and the stage version.

She also travelled to Australia for productions connected with the comedy.

Twelfth Night Theatre records a 2007 production of ’Allo ’Allo! featuring:

• Gorden Kaye
• Sue Hodge
• Guy Siner

That reunited three performers strongly associated with the original programme.

Working Again With Gorden Kaye

Gorden Kaye’s René was at the centre of ’Allo ’Allo!.

Hodge later worked with him again on stage.

Twelfth Night Theatre records Gorden Kaye and Sue Hodge appearing in the 2002 production It Runs in the Family.

Their professional link had clearly moved beyond the BBC set.

They also reunited through ’Allo ’Allo! stage work, keeping the programme’s characters alive for audiences after the original television run.

A Long Connection With Australian Theatre

Australia became an important place in Hodge’s later stage career.

Twelfth Night Theatre’s production history records her in several productions.

These include:

• Don’t Dress for Dinner in 2000
• It Runs in the Family in 2002
• ’Allo ’Allo! in 2007
• A Chorus Line in 2011
• Lipstick Dreams in 2012

The theatre’s archived production list directly names Hodge in these shows.

That list shows something important about her career.

She kept working.

One TV character may have made her famous, but theatre remained a steady part of her professional life.

Playing Geraldine Granger

One especially interesting later role came in 2014.

Sue Hodge played Geraldine Granger in a stage production of The Vicar of Dibley in Tasmania.

The Encore Theatre Company records the production as running from 24 October to 15 November 2014 at the Earl Arts Centre, with Hodge in the lead role.

Jamie Hillard directed the production.

It gave Hodge a very different comedy character.

Mimi was frantic and fiery.

Geraldine was warmer, calmer and built around a different style of humour.

That contrast showed how far Hodge’s stage work could move beyond her best-known television persona.

Mimi & the Boy

Hodge later turned stories from her best-known work into live entertainment.

One such project was Mimi & the Boy.

Encore Theatre Company described the show as combining behind-the-scenes stories about ’Allo ’Allo! with comedy and music.

The production paired Hodge with musician Keith “Paddington” Richards.

Richards is an experienced musician and musical director who became both Hodge’s professional partner and husband.

The format gave audiences something different.

It was partly performance.

Partly memory.

And partly a chance to hear what happened behind the cameras during one of Britain’s best-known sitcoms.

Keith “Paddington” Richards

Sue Hodge is married to Keith “Paddington” Richards.

He has worked as a musician and musical director and has appeared alongside her in live projects.

Encore Theatre Company’s material says Richards had been a member of the UK band Whiskey Max and later became musical director at the Theatre Royal Lincoln, where he met Hodge.

Their relationship also became a working partnership.

They performed together.

They developed shows together.

And music became part of their shared stage work.

Reliable sources do not give enough consistent information for this article to state an exact marriage year with confidence, so it is better not to guess.

Writing Mimi’s Memoirs

Years after ’Allo ’Allo! ended, Hodge put some of those memories into a book.

She wrote Mimi’s Memoirs.

Publisher Austin Macauley describes the book as Hodge’s account of the making of ’Allo ’Allo!, told through the perspective and personality of Mimi Labonq.

The idea came after years of fan questions.

People wanted stories.

They wanted details.

They wanted to know what happened behind the scenes.

So Hodge wrote them down.

The memoir looks back at unusual scenes, comic situations and experiences surrounding the programme.

Her official website also promotes the book as a collection of stories about the famous BBC comedy.

Directing and Work Away From Acting

Acting is only one part of Sue Hodge’s career.

She has also worked as a director.

That makes sense given her long theatre background.

Years spent around rehearsal rooms, touring companies, musical productions and comedy gave her experience on both sides of a production.

She has also been involved in charity performance work.

Her official site highlights fundraising activity connected with a concert version of Godspell and describes charity work as an ongoing part of her professional life.

Cruise and Live Entertainment Work

Hodge has also performed outside traditional theatres.

Her later work has included cruise entertainment and live appearances, often drawing on comedy, music and memories from her career.

That sort of work suits her background.

She can act.

She can sing.

She knows live audiences.

And she has decades of stories.

Basically, she can work without needing a television set around her.

Her official website currently groups her work across TV, film, writing, cruising and charity projects, showing how broad her later career became.

Returning to Mimi

Some actors spend years trying to escape one famous character.

Hodge seems to have taken another path.

She kept Mimi.

But she did more with her.

Stage productions, live appearances and her memoir allowed the character to remain part of her professional life without stopping Hodge from taking other roles.

Encore Theatre Company later planned another production of ’Allo ’Allo! featuring Hodge as Mimi.

The company’s 2020 production page names her as a guest star from the original BBC series. The planned season was put on hold because of COVID disruption.

Even decades after the original programme, audiences still knew exactly who Mimi was.

What Is Sue Hodge Doing Now?

Sue Hodge’s official website continues to present her as active across entertainment, writing, cruising and charity work.

Her career now carries several identities.

She is an actress.

A stage performer.

A writer.

A director.

And, of course, Mimi remains part of the picture.

That link is unlikely to disappear.

Nor does it need to.

Is Sue Hodge Married?

Yes.

Public theatre material identifies Keith “Paddington” Richards as Hodge’s husband and longtime musical collaborator.

He has worked with her on live entertainment projects involving comedy and music.

Does Sue Hodge Have Children?

Reliable public sources checked for this profile do not clearly establish whether Sue Hodge has children.

So no number should be stated as fact.

Private gaps should stay gaps.

Who Are Sue Hodge’s Parents?

Her parents’ names are not clearly documented in the reliable public sources checked for this article.

Some profile websites may provide personal claims without showing strong sourcing.

Those claims are not used here.

What Is Sue Hodge’s Net Worth?

There is no reliable, publicly verified figure for Sue Hodge’s net worth.

Numbers on celebrity wealth websites should not automatically be treated as factual.

No confirmed financial figure is available from Hodge herself or from a strong financial source.

So the correct answer is simple:

Her net worth is not publicly verified.

Why Sue Hodge Is Still Remembered

Mimi Labonq is a big reason.

No doubt.

But Hodge’s career is much wider than that one role.

She started young.

She trained through dance.

She worked on stage.

She appeared on film and television.

Then she kept going through touring productions, Australian theatre, live comedy, writing, directing and musical work.

That is the fuller picture.

Mimi brought fame.

The stage supplied longevity.

Final Thought

Sue Hodge will always be closely linked with Mimi Labonq.

That character travelled far.

But Hodge’s professional life did too.

Her work stretches from early dance and pantomime to BBC television, international theatre, live entertainment, directing and writing.

She also stayed connected with the programme that made her famous instead of pretending it never happened.

Honestly, that makes sense.

Fans remember Mimi.

Hodge gave them more of her.

And behind that famous café waitress sits a much longer career built largely around one thing: performing in front of real audiences.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Sue Hodge?

Sue Hodge is a British actress, singer, dancer, director and writer. She is best known for playing Mimi Labonq in the BBC sitcom ’Allo ’Allo!.

Where was Sue Hodge born?

Her official website states that she was born in Essex, England.

What is Sue Hodge famous for?

She is most famous for playing Mimi Labonq in ’Allo ’Allo!. BBC programme records confirm Hodge in the role.

Was Sue Hodge in Brazil?

Yes. Hodge has a screen credit connected with Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film Brazil.

Is Sue Hodge married?

Yes. She is married to musician and musical director Keith “Paddington” Richards, who has also worked with her on stage.

Did Sue Hodge write a book?

Yes. She wrote Mimi’s Memoirs, sharing stories surrounding ’Allo ’Allo! and the making of the programme. Austin Macauley publishes the book.

Did Sue Hodge play Geraldine in The Vicar of Dibley?

Yes. She played Geraldine Granger in Encore Theatre Company’s 2014 stage production in Tasmania.

What is Sue Hodge’s net worth?

Her net worth has not been reliably verified publicly. Any specific figure should be treated cautiously.