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I Love My...
M Magazine
December 2001
...I love my...raunchy
rag doll Renata
Su Pollard, 52, formerly the
madcap cleaner Peggy on Hi-De-Hi! and now a
feisty Dick Whittington in panto, explains why
she loves her wayward dolly.
'Renata was given to me about
12 years ago, after Hi-De-Hi! finished. I was
invited to a theme park at Longeaton and we were
having a drink when they gave her to me. I love
her. She has such a cheeky look. She's not a
straightforward doll. You can tell by the way she
winks that she's got guts and she's not afraid to
show a bit of cleavage.
'I named her Renata after Rene
and Renata, who sang Save My Love. I thought the
name was appropriate. It's European, quite racy
and smacks of someone who's seen the world.
'She lives in a room downstairs
that I call my play area. It's where all my old
videos and nick nacks people have given me live.
She sits in her own plastic chair and when I go
down there, I'll always say hello. I talk to her
all the time, which makes me sound barmy, but
when you've had something for a long time, you do
form a kind of relationship with it.
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'I've
created an entire history for her. People say to
me: "It's just a doll, what are you talking
about?" But it's fun. I think she wanted to
be an entertainer but her parents wouldn't let
her so she ran away. She's learned how to be
tough, having worked in brothels and been a madam.
I think she's been married several times to no-good
men - in fact she's probably shot one of them.
But she's retired now and is perfectly happy on
her own. 'I do
have a couple of other dolls, including a drag
doll (which is a boy doll dressed up in women's
clothing). She's called Olivia, has grand ideas
and doesn't get along with Renata. Renata wears
fishnets and Olivia thinks that makes her a
trollop. I should write a series about them.
'I don't actually collect dolls,
mainly because collecting things for the sake of
it is tedious. And I hate Barbie-type dolls -
they're so boring. I want dolls that evoke a bit
of controversy. If anyone gave me a toilet roll
doll, I'd take a Stanley knife to my wrists.'
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