Gracie Fields

She may have spent most of her later life on the isle of Capri in Italy, but there was something distinctly English about the singer/actress/comedienne and music hall star Gracie Fields. Born in the north of England over a Rochdale fish and chip shop owned by her grandmother, Gracie was a natural show-person, making her first stage appearances with children's repertory theatre groups at a young age. Her sisters Edith and Betty and brother Tommy all pursued careers on stage, but Gracie was far more successful, making her professional debut in a variety show at Rochdale Hippodrome in 1910. She was soon able to give up her day job in a cotton mill, developing a popular double act with comedian Archie Pitt - later her husband - which toured in various revues for nearly a decade. Whilst performing in one of those revues, Mr Tower Of London, Gracie's star ascended, resulting in various serious acting roles and a celebrated recording career. Her unaffected, no frills style and lovable Northern working class character captivated audiences and her shows at London's Café de Paris became the stuff of legend as she scored a massive hit with her signature song Sally - inspiring her first hit movie, Sally In Our Alley (1931). It was the first of many as she got a lucrative Hollywood contract with which, always strong-willed, she successfully negotiated a clause for all filming to be in England rather than America. In 1939 she was seriously ill with cervical cancer, but insisted on playing numerous shows for the allied troops during the war years, singing comedic hits like Thing-Ummy Bob (That's Gonna Win The War), The Biggest Aspidistra In The World, I Took My Heart To A Party and Teddy Bears Picknick. Gracie relocated to Capri, where she initially went to recuperate after her illness, but continued to have UK hits through the 1950s such as Around The World and Little Donkey. Even during the 1960s she regularly popped up on TV shows until her health gradually deteriorated. Gracie died in 1979 at 81.

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