Film producer Grace Carley announced on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, that her partner, the English musician turned comedian Ronnie Golden, had died at 78. Golden, whose real name was Tony De Meur, was known for playing Buddy Holly hanging upside down in an early episode of “The Young Ones” and for voice work on “Spitting Image.”
Carley confirmed the death in a statement, gave no cause and described the death as sudden and unexpected. He died while she was out walking their dog.
“Without any fuss or bother, he simply slipped away yesterday afternoon while I was walking the dog,” Carley said. Her announcement also included the line: “Never even fell off his perch, so to speak.”
He died at home on Saturday, Sept. 26.
In a later post under a tribute to him, Carley gave a fuller account of his final day: “We had a lovely lunch in the garden – lamb chops and confit chickpeas from an Ottolengi recipe- and a cheeky glass of Rose – which he didn’t even finish. I went out to walk the dog and came back exactly 40 minutes later to find him just gone. The NHS kicked in within minutes and worked themselves tirelessly to bring him back, but he was gone.”
From Bandleader to Comedian
A bandleader is what De Meur had been before comedy claimed him. The quirky pre-new wave group The Fabulous Poodles came together in 1975 under his leadership, with De Meur as lead singer, guitarist and frontman. The band appeared on “The Old Grey Whistle Test,” released three albums and toured with Meat Loaf, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and The Ramones. It also served as Chuck Berry’s backing band. The group’s 1978 U.S. album “Mirror Stars” climbed to No. 61 on the Billboard album chart.
Around 1980 the Poodles broke up, and the alternative comedy circuit gained a new act when De Meur reinvented himself as Ronnie Golden. Solo bookings and work as part of The Comic Strip followed, and the Comedy Store in London put him on bills with Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Alexei Sayle, among other performers.
Screen Work and Voices
Episode two of the BBC sitcom “The Young Ones” cast Golden as Buddy Holly, left dangling upside down from the ceiling and still strapped into his parachute, in scenes with series stars Mayall and Edmondson. One report dates that screen debut to 1982.
“Spitting Image” was watched by 15 million people at its peak, and Golden voiced impersonations including musicians Mick Jagger and Roger Daltrey during the satirical show’s original 1980s run. He featured on the show’s 1986 novelty track “The Chicken Song.” In 1983, he appeared on the Channel 4 show “Stomping On The Cat,” performing his song “Drinking At Home.” He also appeared in “Pushing Up Daisies” and “The Lenny Henry Show.”
Other screen credits reported include the sitcom “Interference”; the sketch shows “Who Dares Wins,” “Girls on Top,” “Lenny Henry Tonite” and “Saturday Live”; the thriller series “The Fourth Protocol”; the 1991 special “Barf Bites Back!”; and the stand-up series “The World Stands Up.” His final screen credit was the 2014 mockumentary film “Voices Thrown Silent.”
In later years he fronted the R&B and soul group Ronnie And The Rex. He worked regularly with the late comedy writer Barry Cryer, and the two appeared together at a Nerdstock gig put on by Robin Ince.
Tributes From the Circuit
Carley invited his friends and colleagues to share their memories, and replies arrived quickly from across the British comedy circuit.
Musical comic Steve Gribbin wrote: “Such sad news about the death of comedy legend, very funny act, excellent musician and all-round good fella Tony De Meur aka Ronnie Golden.” The annual Comedians’ Christmas Party had been an occasion Gribbin looked forward to because Golden would be there, he added, and he sent sympathies to Carley and the family.
New Zealand comedian Jarred Christmas commented on an Instagram post about the death by The Comedy Cellar: “I bloody love Ronnie Golden. RIP you legend xx.”
Comedian Charmian Hughes said she was devastated. She first saw The Fabulous Poodles while at St Andrews University, went on to share bills with Golden for decades and called him a true comedy friend. Everyone had been left stunned by the news, said Jenny Lecoat, a pioneer of Alternative comedy, who described Golden as a significant figure in her life for more than 40 years and said he would not be forgotten.
A hugely talented performer and writer, and a fine storyteller over a pint — that was how Richard Vranch, a Comedy Store Player, remembered Golden. Ronnie And The Rex played a set at his wedding, he said, and he recalled that the two of them had once appeared together in a striptease act called Hunx. The loss was still sinking in, said Peter Grahame, who runs Downstairs At The King’s Head in Crouch End, adding that he felt as though he had known De Meur forever. His thoughts went to Carley and to Golden’s family and friends.