SOMERSET NEWS: Grotbags actress Carol Lee Scott dies aged 74

A SOMERSET actress, who became a familiar face on TV shows in the 1980s and 1990s with her comic ghastly character of Grotbags, has died.

Carol Lee Scott, who lived near Bridgwater, died on Monday (July 3, 2017) at the age of 74.

She started her career after moving to London singing in local pubs alongside her regular job working at a record department in a Rumbelows store.

She got her show business break when she joined Pontins and stayed with the holiday park company for 19 years, while in the off-season she played many of the northern working men’s clubs and shared the bill with stars including The Four Tops, Morecambe and Wise, and Tommy Cooper.

But it was while she was performing in the summer season in Cleethorpes with Rod Hull when the idea of nasty Grotbags was nurtured.

PHOTO - RIGHT: Actress Carol Lee Scott with a cardboard cutout of her alter-ego Grotbags.

Rod Hull was approached to make a new show to be broadcast at the launch of Central Independent Television and he created Emu’s World and approached Carol to play a witch.

Together they came up with the character of Grotbags.

She first appeared as Grotbags in Emu’s World in January 1982 and the show ran until 1989. There was then Rod ‘n’ Emu in 1991 and Grotbags’ own show from 1991-93.

Back in 2009 Carol Lee Scott, who lived at Spaxton, offered her knowledge of “witchcraft, magical spells and potions and cackling abilities” to help choose the perfect candidate for a much-publicised role as a witch at Wookey Hole.

News of her death was announced on social media by family members where it was said that Carol had lost her brave fight against cancer.

Rod Hull, who was a huge favourite with TV audiences with his Emu puppet, died in 1999 from the injuries he sustained after falling from the roof of his bungalow in Sussex while trying to adjust a television aerial.

PHOTO - ABOVE: How Carol Lee Scott will be remembered by her TV fans - as Grotbags with Rod Hull and Emu.

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