The
Stage
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07/09/06
Well-known London cabaret performer Al Pillay has been a long time fan of Dorothy’s. Al writes:
"The very first time I
became aware of Dorothy Squires was as a teenager, watching her performing
in a baby blue ostrich-plumed sparkly stage outfit, on the Reg Varney show
I’m sure, sometime back in the 70s. It looked as though she swam her way
through a myriad of sheer stage curtains to reach the microphone and then
belt out Happy Heart, followed by My Way which she appeared to bite chunks
out. From that moment on I became her youngest fan.
I was about 14 years old and said to my Mam, ‘Ooh, she is like a white Shirley Bassey’, and my Aunt Jean who was also in the living room at the time, chirped up: ‘Excuse me!! GET IT RIGHT. SQUIRES WAS THE PROTOTYPE - NOT SHIRLEY BASSEY WHO WAVES HER ARMS AROUND LIKE SHE’S DEMENTED.’
I think my Aunt Jean would have done well as a judge on X Factor where of course today Dot would never get a look-in as a contestant as there was nothing identikit or generic about her as an artiste, and as a judge I am sure that she would have given other contestants hell. Just as I did with my brothers who would say only queers liked Dorothy Squires, to which I’d reply that there must be some great benefits to being a queer then, before I knocked them out! I hastily add we must never pride ourselves on being violent but, like Dorothy, nor must we tolerate disrespect either.
I first met Dorothy when I went backstage at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, with pianist Mike Terry. I remember during the show I was sat next to the wonderful singer/songwriter Labi Siffre, famous for his hit Something Inside So Strong, which could easily have applied to Dorothy because, believe me, she was certainly so strong, ‘may I say’! She oozed power, strength and total determination and that particular concert was incredible. She was a force to be reckoned with and, to this day, I believe Dorothy to be one of the greatest performers of the 20th century, right up there with Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Eartha Kitt and Peggy Lee.
Dorothy sent me a message once, via Danny La Rue, saying that she was so glad to see me doing well and enjoyed my regular appearances in the ground-breaking Channel 4 TV series The Comic Strips Presents. She thought that I was the one who stood out, and said I was unique. Imagine, Dorothy Squires saying that about me, an insecure lad from Grimsby docks. I was made up, if not just for the fact and knowledge that Dorothy was really hip and well-clued. In fact I always enjoyed Dorothy’s Pans People arm gestures when doing an up-tempo pop tune. She really could sell a number!
Thanks Al for your memories. I think that the TV show which you recall for first seeing Dorothy perform was ATV’s Saturday Variety in early 1972 when she performed Happy Heart, Till and My Way – her first major TV booking in over a decade. That particular show was also notable for establishing Dorothy’s long-time friend Larry Grayson as the proverbial ‘overnight star’. Larry had originally played on one of Dorothy’s bills at Chiswick Empire back in the 50s! Dorothy did appear on the Reg Varney Show performing If I Could Go Back (from the movie The Lost Horizon).
Al has been a popular live attraction in London and further afield, with his unique brand of comedy, and has also appeared on many cutting-edge TV comedy shows. He has a CD album available featuring the live recording A Life In Song, and has also created the Demented Divas greetings card series which feature wicked illustrations of Dorothy, Bette Davis and many other legendary divas. Well worth checking out. Look on the Dress Circle web site (www.dresscircle.co.uk)
Sir Roger Moore mentioned Dorothy several times in a Daily Mail interview, headlined I’m No Bond!, written by Rebecca Hardy and published on 2 December 2011.
Sir Roger was promoting his TV movie A Christmas Princess, and Ms Hardy wrote: “It’s all a long way from Roger’s humble beginnings as an only child in south London … he [eventually] went to RADA where he met his first wife Doorn Van Steyn, whom he married in 1946, but the marriage was a disaster largely due to a lack of money. It ended when he met the woman who was to become his second wife, the temperamental singer Dorothy Squires, who was 12 years his senior.
“They travelled together to New York where Roger’s fortunes as an actor changed. ‘In London I was one of a whole shoal of fish who looked a bit alike and spoke the same. In America I was a slightly different fish in the pond. I was spotted and signed by MGM. But I had no confidence at all. I was always nervous of looking a fool.
Dorothy was a gay icon in those days but Roger was, as he says now,’100 per cent heterosexual’ and left her after meeting Luisa, then a beautiful Italian actress, on the set of a low-budget French-Italian film, The Rape Of The Sabine Women. He’s said since that, had he had children with Dorothy (she suffered a series of miscarriages), he might have made a different decision. Indeed, he now deeply regrets the shabby way he treated his second wife. ‘Life is full of regret,’ he says. ‘Have you got 15 hours? I don’t have many regrets I talk about, but yes, I regret that.’
So much so that when Dorothy underwent surgery for bladder cancer in 1996, Roger picked up the bill. And at her funeral two years later a bouquet of purple tulips and lilies of the valley arrived with a card and the words, ‘I’ve said it with flowers’.
The article attracted a mixed response from readers of the on-line edition of the newspaper. Perhaps the most pertinent was from a Stephen Richardson who said: “He did leave his wife Dorothy Squires for Luisa who he then married, only to leave her for the neighbour! He has admitted he regrets the shabby way he treated Dorothy, but Luisa knew that he was married when they got together. What goes around come around. Luisa knows how Dorothy felt.”
| Hallmark Records has reissued a Dorothy CD Three Beautiful Words Of Love which originally appeared on the Conifer label back in the 80s, first as a vinyl LP and then as a CD. It includes many of Dorothy’s hits from The Gipsy through to Say It With Flowers in 1961. The newly-packaged collection is available from Amazon at a bargain price of little more than £2. Curiously, however, the track-listing is shorter than the original CD release, losing six tracks along the way, and is based on the vinyl LP release. A curious decision, but it’s always good to see Dorothy’s word being reissued. |
Emily Squires, Dorothy’s niece, has supplied the following photographs dating from Dorothy’s early years.
Emily explains: "The first photo is of Dorothy’s mother and father, Emily and Archie Squires, on a day’s outing. Dorothy would have been about three years old then. The next photo shows Dorothy with Candy Joe, the pet poodle, and next to that is a holiday photograph taken in Tenby, south Wales. Standing behind the deckchair is Dorothy’s sister Rene with her husband George, and Dorothy. Directly in front is my father Fred (Dorothy’s brother) and in front of him is Archie Squires. The rest of the people I know are family, but the names are lost. Maybe somebody out there in Wales may recognise a family member, in which case I’d love to hear from them. Shortly after this photo was taken Dorothy left Wales in search of stardom in the big city.
Emily adds: "The lady pictured on her own is Dorothy’s mum Emily, and it was probably taken during World War II, during which time my granddad served in Burma. The final photo is what looks like another family picnic, probably in Tenby again, with Dorothy, her parents, and her brother and sister."
Many thanks for allowing us to share these photos with you, Emily!
Adventures with Dot – By John Cohen
My friend Chris White has asked me to contribute to the Dorothy Squires website. He and I often saw her together, back in the 70s when we were both still very young!
In fact, I had always been totally devoted to Alma Cogan. Indeed, Chris first visited me as a schoolboy on 18 May 1968 (the day before what would have been Alma’s birthday) to view my vast collection of Alma Cogan memorabilia. At that time – remember that this was quite a while before her memorable ‘comeback’ -Dorothy Squires was one of those names who was slightly outside of my personal knowledge. As a boy, I was aware that she was a ‘name’ and I suppose that subconsciously I felt that here was a star of yesteryear who turned up on TV very occasionally, her glory days being over. I hadn’t the slightest idea of how major a star she had been and often wonder, when I hear the sweet-voiced ballads of her heyday, when she decided to switch to the often-raucous ‘belting’ style which thrilled us in the comeback years.
Alma had left a gap and, although they were extremely different in their singing styles, there was of course the huge similarity in the magic which Dorothy and Alma both produced onstage, and in the importance to both of them of the stage gowns. And so, with Dot’s much-publicised Palladium concert, we were intrigued enough to sample her for the first time on a wintry night in Halifax on 20 February 1971 ("direct from, and recreating, her Palladium triumph"). Dare one say, all these years later, that the whole comeback thing was obviously stage-managed. Clearly this was modelled on Judy Garland’s legendary comeback night. There were ‘plants’ in the Palladium audience. She probably organised most of the flowers herself! And isn’t it priceless when the man’s voice calling out ‘welcome back’ isn’t heard clearly enough, so she repeats it herself: ‘Did you hear what he said?’. But those concerts were magic; not concerts so much as ‘experiences’. Even the second of her two nights at the London Palladium in November 1975, when she had laryngitis and battled on as the voice became progressively weaker.
She had her failings. She talked too much! It always amazed me that, although she was professional to her fingertips, she didn’t know that the patter went on too long and often became ridiculous. At her opening night at the Golden Garter in Wythenshawe, Manchester (14 July 1975) all her stage chat was about how untidy her hair was, and she adjusted it with hair-clips between songs! On that earlier occasion In Halifax she was lamenting the half-filled auditorium. "I’ve lost a fortune. Never mind, I made a fortune last night". At St George’s Hall in Bradford (6 October 1979), the half-full hall was all the fault of the ‘inefficient box office’. And cruelly, at the same venue, she told us (at great length) how she had been welcomed and treated so well, and had been introduced to Eugene on lighting, to whom she gave a detailed list of all her requirements. He had been responsive and intelligent and then (her voice changed), "So far HE HASN’T GOT ONE OF THEM RIGHT"! If I’d been Eugene, I would have walked out there and then, and left her in her present ‘light’. It would have been worth losing my job!
Rather foolishly, and dangerously, at Wakefield Theatre Club on Saturday 12 August 1972 she found herself with a half-inattentive audience, which included her support act, the up-and-coming Cannon & Ball comedy duo. Those were the days when the gaming tables were in the same room as the cabaret, and there was noise from the back of the room. After pleading unsuccessfully for silence, she changed her approach by saying to her audience at the front of the room, "Please God, you’re trying to listen. Why don’t you tell them to be quiet?" The last time I saw her was at the Astoria dance hall in Roundhay, Leeds. I knew the compere and he told me that her opening statement when she arrived (they had positioned a balloon net above the dance/cabaret floor to help create a party atmosphere) had been: "Those buggers are coming down for a start".
Why did she always have to be so difficult, and to imagine insults where none were intended? There were her legendary battles with the BBC and record companies, and all those whom she imagined to be enemies. Although she seemed able to laugh at herself onstage, it seemed her sense of humour deserted her when she was offstage. At Batley Variety Club on 19 May 1972 (Alma’s birthday again!) I joked that "they haven’t stopped you driving then?", referring to her current publicity with the ‘traffic cops’. She changed immediately and snapped, "Why would they?" After her Astoria performance, I said that I was disappointed that she hadn’t included The Irony Of War and how much I enjoyed it. I was treated to a withering putdown of how large an orchestra she had at the Palladium, the clear implication being that only an idiot would have suggested that she perform with the considerably reduced orchestral backing she had that night.
As Marcia, an old friend of mine, with whom I was a Butlins redcoat, would have said many years ago (when we were talking about the artificial aspects of show business and ‘luvvies’ fawning over each other, "They seem to think that what they do is important"! You would have thought that Dot was making a contribution to the war effort that night at the Astoria; not discussing part of an evening’s entertainment!
Webmaster Chris White: I was with John on that particular occasion and, after that particular exchange, John turned to me and said "Tell Dorothy YOUR news, Chris". "What’s that?" Dorothy said, glaring at me ominously. I explained that I had been commissioned to write the liner-notes for a planned new LP release, Three Beautiful Words Of Love" to be released by a label called Conifer. She was not happy about it and snapped at me, "You’d better get your facts right"!
But don’t we miss her, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could go to another of her London Palladium concerts this autumn?
Many thanks John for this editorial contribution. I can say that it was John who first introduced me to the music and magic of Dorothy. At the time Dorothy’s version of Till was in the charts and receiving airplay on programmes like the BBC’s Family Favourites. "Every time I hear it I just have to sit down and listen because it’s such a fabulous version," John told me. I listened to his copy of Dorothy’s recording and was also won over. We both decided to go to the Halifax concert, and that was it – Dorothy had two more loyal fans!
Incidentally,
apart from his long-standing love of the music and personality of Alma
Cogan (and Dorothy!), John is also a keen cinema fan and has written an
excellent coffee table style book, Lost Treasures Of The Odeons, which
features hundreds of films that graced the silver screen from the Thirties
through to the Sixties. Including personal reminiscences and anecdotes,
and reproductions of newspaper advertising for many of the movies in
question, the book was first published in 2007 but has now gone into a
second print edition which has almost twice the amount of content to be
found in the first. A real treat for film enthusiasts! Top West End
impresario Bill Kenwright, a renowned movie buff, liked Lost Treasures Of
The Odeons so much that he has even mentioned it on his Radio 2 evening
programme, and fellow broadcaster Paul O’Grady also gave the book a
great mention on his Sunday show!
John’s book is available from Dress Circle in Monmouth Street, priced at £25.
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Great to hear the highly respected lyricist Don Black (Born Free, Diamonds Are Forever and countless other hit songs) give Dorothy a mention on the Radio 2 Sunday show normally presented by Elaine Paige. Don mentioned that he had been a song plugger in his formative years and mentioned Denmark Street (Tin Pan Alley) and that singing stars like Dorothy often found their songs there. Dorothy of course recorded If I Never Sing Another Song, which Don penned the lyrics for, and also included an extract from another of his songs, When The World Is Ready, in her Irony Of War medley. It would be great if Don could play a Dorothy recording during his temporary tenure of the show – to my knowledge, Elaine Paige has never once, in ten years, played anything by Dorothy.
Dorothy was also mentioned by Jean Fergusson (Last Of The Summer Wine, Coronation Street) in Barbara Windsor’s Radio Two tribute show about Hylda Baker. Jean of course has written a well-received biography about Hylda, and also portrayed her in a West End stage show. She recalled that Dorothy, when talking about Hylda, and her personal problems, had once said: "I don’t think that Hylda realised just how good she was."
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Bernie Burgess, the late lamented Ruby Murray’s husband in the Fifties and Sixties (and a member of the Jones Boys) gives Dorothy a couple of mentions in his biography, Ruby – My Precious Gem. Referring to the fact that Ruby had been exploited by certain show business people in her hey-day, he writes: "Artists like Frankie Vaughan understood what was happening. He was quoted as saying: ‘There were artists that were not receiving their true value,’ and he felt that Ruby was one of them. Another star name Dorothy Squires made it generally known that she had severe doubts about what could be happening to Ruby. The variety bills that she topped produced very high revenue, but very little of that came Ruby’s way."
Later in his book: "I always remember an old friend Dorothy Squires saying to me, ‘how can those four ******* (The Beatles) have so many hits with the rubbish they write. Within a few months Dorothy was recording cover versions of at least two of their song! That’s show business!"
The Wales on Sunday newspaper recently carried an item about Dorothy. The piece was also picked up by other newspapers around South Wales, and it also ran in The Daily Mail, accompanied by a small headshot picture of Dorothy.
Readers of the newspapers were informed: “Friends of the late Welsh singing star Dorothy Squires say she would be ‘laughing from the grave’ at the very public humbling of her old nemesis, Rupert Murdoch.
The entertainer and ex-wife of Roger Moore went to the grave blaming Murdock’s media empire for her financial ruin, after she launched dozens of costly legal battles against his newspapers. From being heralded one of the brightest stars Britain ever produced, she died in 1998 aged 83, ending her life a poverty-stricken recluse.
Last night, those who knew Dorothy said the star would be revelling in the storm engulfing the Australian media mogul’s empire. The star went head to head with the Murdoch-owned News of the World in 1971 in the first of two successful legal battles. The fiery singer sued Murdoch’s organisation over an article suggesting she had sold the intimate story of her married to 007 star Moore, when she hadn’t.
She also sued over an allegation that she had bribed a BBC radio producer to play her records on air, but a series of subsequent legal actions – as many as 28, and most unsuccessful – left her penniless. By 1982 she had been banned from the High Court and had spent much of her fortune on legal fees.
She ended up bankrupt and homeless, living in a horse-drawn caravan until she was offered a home in Trebanog, Rhondda by lifelong fan Esme Coles. In a BBC documentary, filmed only weeks before her death from cancer, she said: “I hold Rupert Murdoch entirely responsible.’ Last night Mrs Coles, now 74, said Murdoch’s appearance in the full glare of the public spotlight – culminating in last Tuesday’s grilling by MPs, during which he was pelted with a custard pie – would feel like justice to Dorothy. “Dorothy never forgave Rupert Murdoch for running a story about her selling tales about Roger Moore,” she said. “After that her life was never the same and she always said that the News of the World had been the start of her troubles.”
The 80-year-old mogul was forced to admit that he had been let down by people he trusted as he faced a barrage of questions about the saga which has rocked his empire and led to the closure of the News of the World a fortnight ago.
Dorothy, who had a love/hate relationship with the media, did however warm to one reporter on whose shoulder she cried. Dave Edwards, a retired Media Wales reporter, interviewed Dorothy during his time working for local radio. “Although Dorothy was known to have a hatred of the press I was lucky enough to get an interview with her in the studio of Swansea Sound radio station back in the 1980s,” he recalled. “She swore like a trooper and literally cried on my shoulder about the breakdown of her relationship with Roger Moore.
“We parted the best of pals – she even invited me to go with her to Swansea Market to feast on some faggots and peas.”
Dorothy was, of course, not living in a horse-drawn caravan towards the end of her life, but was reputed to have been born in one!
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Petula Clark was asked about Dorothy in an excellent in-depth interview that she gave to the Daeida Magazine which can be found on-line at daeida.com. Thanks to Theo Morgan for drawing this to our attention.
Petula was asked, Do you remember Dorothy Squires?
“Yes, of course I remember Dorothy Squires. We met several times. She was Welsh and I’m half Welsh so we got on well. I spent some time with her in Los Angeles when she was with Roger Moore as well. But I had known her before then and (Petula laughs) she was a very outgoing person, let’s put it that way! Very different from me but she was great fun and was an amazing singer. She was a diva before her time.
Artists like Dorothy Squires – who had a rather opposite voice and personality than you – do people like her attract you personally or professionally? You know, the more outgoing, boisterous, audacious types?
No, not really. Frankly it’s not that I don’t mix with people like that because I do mix with all kinds of people, and they’re all fine, but Dorothy was different. I got to know her well because we were in the same business and she was so famous – and so was I, and we used to meet at different parties. She was very much a ‘party animal’. That’s putting it mildly (Petula laughs). I wasn’t especially a party animal but I would go, you know.
How would you describe Dorothy Squires in a few words? What comes to mind immediately?
Fiery, on stage and off. Well, she was a fiery Welsh woman! She had an amazing voice, and she was so successful in the UK.
Would you say that she was larger than life?
Yes, very much so…
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The Call Boy is the official journal of the British Music Hall Society, lovingly edited by Geoff Bowden and available on subscription. The autumn 2011 issue featured a lengthy memoir by Rosalyn Wilder who worked as personal assistant to the late Robert Nesbitt.
Robert Nesbitt presented many hit West End musical shows including those staged at the legendary Talk Of The Town nightclub back in its illustrious heyday, and he was also closely involved with the annual Royal Variety Show, working alongside Lord Bernard Delfont.
Among her reminiscences, Rosalyn recalls: “The scene is the Talk Of The Town late on Monday afternoon. Dorothy Squires is opening that night as the headline cabaret. Mr Nesbitt has spent the afternoon lighting her act. He clearly is not entirely happy and he goes up to her, puts his arm around her shoulder and says, ‘Dorothy darling, I really don’t think that song is the right choice for the act’. ‘Well,’ flounces Miss Squires, “I don’t care what you think, it stays in’. More persuasion from Mr. N.; more stubborn behaviour from the star. ‘Well, darling,’ says Mr. Nesbitt.”If you really must sing it may I suggest you sing it in the taxi on the way home?’!
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Nice to hear the ever-loyal Desmond Carrington playing Dorothy’s Roses Of Picardy in one of his Radio 2 shows. More recently, he played Russ Conway’s solo interpretation of Say It With Flowers and mentioned that the song had been penned by Dorothy. Offshoremusicradio’s Rod Collins also continues to give Dorothy quite a lot of plays on the internet station, the most recent being I’ve Gotta Be Me from the first London Palladium concert. Rod says that he receives regular requests from listeners to feature recordings by Dorothy.
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Eric Hall did Dorothy and her fans proud recently, virtually devoting the whole of his Sunday afternoon two-hour show on BBC Radio Essex to play her music. Your webmaster Chris White joined Eric to chat about Dorothy’s life and career and there were, of course, quite a lot of on-air phone calls from fans and listeners. There were too many Dorothy recordings featured to list here … suffice to say, Eric did play My Way, Till, For Once In My Life, I Am What I Am, Don’t Take Your Love From Me and many more. Thanks for keeping the Dorothy memories alive, Eric!
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Kathy Kirby
You
will all know the news by now of Kathy Kirby’s sad death on 19 May 2011.
For many years Kathy had lived quietly at her home in Kensington, West
London, turning her back completely on any proposed public appearances.
She was supported emotionally by her family, including her sister Pat, and
nieces, but received very few other visitors. One exception to this golden
rule was Mark Willerton of the Burtey Fen Collection, who had
known the reclusive Kathy for some three decades and often visited
her at her home, acting as a confidante, and enjoying listening to her
many show business reminiscences. It was Mark who arranged for Kathy to
pay tribute to Dorothy for this website - look under the Tributes section
- and he recalled an occasion when Kathy went one of Dorothy’s parties
in Bexley and a fight broken out between Dorothy and her sister, Rene, and
they had to be physically separated! On another occasion Dorothy and Lita
Roza went to see Kathy in concert in Brighton and, when Kathy started to
sing My Way, she whispered to Lita: “She’s singing my bloody song”!
There’s no need to go into the career highlights of Kathy Kirby here - they have already been well-documented - but suffice to say, the ‘Golden Girl of British Pop’, as she was known back in the 60s, left behind a rich legacy of recordings for her fans to enjoy, and the memories of her outstanding musical talents will live on for many years to come.
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The BBC Wales documentary Welsh Legends focused on some on some of the legendary names to emerge from the principality during the latter half of the 20th century, including Richard Burton, Sir Harry Secombe Shirley Bassey and actress Rachel Roberts (who, like Dorothy, was brought up in Llanelli). The series, first broadcast two years ago, kicked off with a special programme about Dorothy which included rare film footage as well as reminiscences from those who worked with and knew her. It also feature rare interview footage with Dorothy, recorded a few months before her death, and which never made the final edit of the Rain Rain Go Away TV documentary first broadcast in 1998. Such has been the appeal of the programme that it has since been broadcast several times by BBC Wales - most recently, in May 2011 - although sadly it has never been screened elsewhere around the country. Let’s hope that it eventually gets seen around the rest of the UK.
Tribute was also paid to Dorothy in early 2011 when BBC Radio Wales, ran a live feature about her and the plans to unveil a blue plaque in Trebanog. Presented by the popular Ray Noble, the 20-minute live segment featured both Dorothy’s niece, Emily Squires, and your webmaster Chris White, Emily reminiscing about her childhood (and adult) memories of her famous aunt, and yours truly chatting about her career. Two recordings were featured: Dorothy’s 50s recording of Edith Piaf’s If You Love Me (I Won’t Care) and 1953’s I’m Walking Behind You, her last collaboration with Billy Reid.
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Steven Warner and Tim Hutton, who are responsible for the excellent design of this website (along with similar online ventures for Twiggy and Petula Clark fans), also have their own successful record label Stage Door Records, specialising in collectors’ soundtracks and theatre recordings. They recently released a previously unheard-of demo recording of Alma Cogan performing songs from Julie, a musical written by her pianist Stan Foster back in the early 60s, but which unfortunately never became a stage production.
Steven recently received an e-mail from Rupert James, who wrote: “May I say what a wonderful collection of rare gems you are providing with your releases. The clarity of the Shirley Bassey and Alma Cogan CDs are absolutely incredible. What a ‘find’ with the Alma Cogan and Stan Foster musical.
“I wonder if there are any plans for a Dorothy Squires collection of archive/unreleased material? I have heard that some tapes exist of Dorothy’s self-penned musical Old Rowley and they would be wonderful to hear with such clarity. Any Squires recordings would be amazing and much appreciated by her still legion of fans, so please keep me posted!”
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John
Lloyd Sorry to report that the indefatigable John Lloyd, probably Dorothy’s most loyal fan, and who lovingly ran her fan club for many years, has been suffering failing health and is now permanently resident in a North London nursing home. John - a former Daily Express sports reporter - had lived in central London’s Farringdon Road for many years but his failing health has resulted in his move to the nursing home where he will receive full-time care. No Dorothy Squires concert or event was complete without the presence of John who organised coach trips to take loyal fans wherever Dorothy was appearing around the country. His loyalties to Dorothy dated back over half a century - among his legion of memories was scrambling on his hands and knees, with other fans, looking for Dorothy’s wedding ring from Roger Moore after she took it off her finger and flung it across her dressing room at the Talk Of The Town nightclub in late 1961. The incident happened after her actor husband turned up at the club to tell her their marriage was over. John was also mentioned in song on stage at the Dominion Theatre when Dorothy added the line, ‘John Lloyd the name of the game’ in her opening song A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening. I have had many e-mails from Dorothy fans asking after John and, while he is unable to use the phone himself, he can be contacted at Pembroke Room 10, Lansdowne Care Home, Claremont Road, Cricklewood London NN2 1TU (tel. 020 8830 8444). We’re all thinking of you John, and wishing you well.
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Adele is the latest young British female performer to take the pop world by storm. Her second album has topped the charts for a record breaking period of time, while her debut album was simultaneously number2! It sounds unlikely but, according to a Daily Express story, she is a big fan of Dorothy Squires’ music - even though Adele herself is only 21 years old! If true, it’s a great tribute to the Welsh singing diva from one of our brightest new singing and song writing talents!
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Dorothy received so little BBC radio airplay nowadays that it is always a special event when she does get a rare ‘plug’. However veteran presenters Desmond Carrington and David Jacobs have both played her in recent months. Desmond played Dorothy on his Armistice Day programme and David Jacobs featured It’s A Pity To Say Goodbye, after playing a version of the Billy Reid classic song by Ella Fitzgerald a couple of weeks earlier. David repeated his classic mistake of saying that Dorothy had been MARRIED to Billy Reid. They, of course, lived and worked together, for several years but because of Reid’s personal family circumstances they never actually tied the knot.
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The same song was also featured on Paul O’Grady’s Sunday Radio 2 programme, (albeit it presented by Jodie Prenger of Oliver! TV and stage success, playing the role of Nancy), that particular week. Paul also mentions Dorothy in The Devil Rides Out, the second volume of his memoirs, in the context of one of his fellow drag performers often impersonating Dorothy’s stage act during his own early years as Lily Savage, playing the gay pubs of South London.
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Dorothy was also mentioned briefly in a Radio 4 documentary to mark the centenary of the world famous London Palladium. One of the participants recalled the formidable Cissie Williams who was the Moss Empire ‘booker’ for many years. The legendary Cissie - feared by artists and managements alike - was renowned for always getting her own way and, when asked if anyone had ever succeeded in getting one over her, replied: “Yes … Dorothy Squires”! In a TV equivalent of the Palladium’s history Dorothy was heard very briefly at the beginning of the programme (though not seen), talking of the magic of appearing onstage there.
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Dorothy was mentioned in some of the obituaries for Tito Burns, the legendary show business agent, who died in August 2010 at the venerable age of 89. Burns started his career as a musician backs in the 40s, and worked and toured with Dorothy during the early 50s. In the 60s he moved on to look after the performing careers of Dusty Springfield and Cliff Richard among others, and later became a leading light at London Weekend Television.
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Dorothy has been mentioned in several show business books recently. Former Coronation Street actor Mark Eden (who played the villain Alan Bradley and died under a Blackpool tram after pursuing Rita Fairclough!) gives her numerous mentions in his very readable memoirs A Journey - From No ‘Hope’ Street To Coronation Street (Troubador Publishing). Alan admits to having a romantic if rather stormy relation with Dorothy, and also mentions that he wrote several songs with her and Dorothy’s musical arranger Ernie Dunstall. He also recalls that he and his son went to Dorothy’s funeral but, unfortunately, went to the wrong Streatham cemetery and so missed the entire ceremony!
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Another very readable book is David Bret’s Hurricane In Mink which chronicles the controversial life of the late Diana Dors. Diana and Dorothy were good friends for many years - Diana was staying with Dorothy and Roger Moore at their home in California when Dorothy took the phone call, and had to break the news, that Diana’s then-husband Dennis Hamilton had died suddenly, bring the curtain down on a tumultuous marriage. Dorothy also visited Diana in hospital just a couple of days before she died. David Bret’s book includes numerous references to their long and enduring friendship.
Incidentally David Bret, who is a prolific writer of show business biographies, has dedicated several of his books to Dorothy’s memory and has mentioned her in several other of his tomes, including his biographies about Mario Lanza, Edith Piaf, Morrissey and Doris Day.
~
Ebay is always a good source for Squires fans who are on the look-out for unusual memorabilia and features some interesting artefacts including posters and programmes. Two programmes for her mid-50s appearance at the Chiswick Empire in west London include an up-and-coming comedian called Peter Sellers on the bill (1955) while Larry Grayson - some 15 years before he shot to ’overnight’ fame - features on the other (1956). Other programmes have included Nottingham Empire and a 1953 bill with Hylda Baker, and a souvenir brochure for the London Coliseum dated Sunday 17 1946.
The latter raised funds for the Newsvendors Benevolent & Provident Institution and, apart from Dorothy and Billy Reid, also features Jack Warner, Tommy Handley, Morton Fraser and His Harmonic Rascals, Issy Bonn and Norman (’Over the Garden Wall’) Evans on the impressive bill. Another item listed The Russ Conway Show, which ran for two weeks in Weston-Super-Mare for two weeks in August 1962 with “Special Guest Star Dorothy Squires”.
DOROTHY
SQUIRES
THE VOICE OF THE BROKEN HEARTED
Coming Home 1936 - 1949
JSP Records has released an excellent triple-CD set of early Dorothy recordings which has been compiled by Theo Morgan who has previously put together collections by Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark among other artists. If this paricular collection sells well JSP will be issuing a second set, again compiled by Theo, which means that every recording she made during the Thirties, Forties and Fifties will be available on CD. Truly a marvellous tribute to Dorothy. Many thanks for your commendable efforts, Theo, whch will be much appreciated by her many fans.
The whole set is in chronological order, dating back to When the Poppies Bloom Again in December 1936. The idea first came about four years ago, amazingly. A label I was working for, Cherry Red, were interested in doing a Dorothy series. I had originally just suggested re-issuing the Pye material, licensed from Sanctuary, but they thought I should go back to the beginning and do a whole series. So I began researching Dot's discography, and when a friend sent me CDs of all the tracks, as taped off scratchy old 78s, I realised how brilliant her early stuff was. I had previously only known the few big hits of the period, like It's a Pity to Say Goodnight and I'll Close My Eyes. However, I hit several stumbling blocks with trying to find the discs to remaster from. By this point I had also decided to take the idea elsewhere, to JSP - a company reknowned for re-issuing vintage material in good quality as boxsets - a far more appealing idea than single CDs. So I set about buying the 78s and researching Dorothy, particularly her discography. A few kind people did indeed loan me their rare 78s, to whom I am incredibly grateful. As has happened before when I've done projects like this, I discovered a few things that were hitherto unknown. A couple of alternate versions of songs will therefore appear on Volume 2. When collecting the 78s, I also realised how rare they all were. They never turn up on ebay, and you tend not to see them at fairs etc. The rarest of the lot was a Columbia from 1950: Halfway to Heaven / Just Like a Gramophone Record. This was eventually found by Peter Rynston from Tall Order Mastering, who made the tracks sound as good as they do. Not only did Dorothy record some great songs in the 1940s (mainly thanks to Billy Reid), but it's also clear how important her role as a female singer was at the time. I firmly believe she was Britain's first diva of song, paving the way for Shirley Bassey. I therefore felt it essential to pay tribute by getting all these historic recordings re-issued properly. Yes, most of them have been out before, but scattered about on different collections, many out of print, and in varying quality. Now, for the first time, every one of Dot's commercial recordings from the start in 1936, to 1960 (before she signed to EMI again) will be available in two sets, chronologically and all remastered for the best sound possible. The first set, out on March 7th, covers 1936 to 1949. The second is also a 3CD set, covering 1950-60, which will be brought out sooner, depending on sales of the first set. So please all do your best to support this! - Theo Morgan
Dorothy
Memories June 2010
Ian Parsons has written a book on the history of Swansea Grand Theatre which is being launched at the South Wales venue in August 2010. Ian has been working on the book, Swansea’s Grand, for some time and has spoken to many people associated with the theatre and about its history. Dorothy Squires appeared there on 27 March 1967 and the book contains anecdotes about her. Ian’s website, which accompanies the book, has had more than 15,000 hits so far. There will be more information about Ian’s book later.
~
American actress, singer and TV star Dorothy Provine - best-known to British audiences for her 60s appearances in the TV series The Roarin’ Twenties, which gave her a hit single with Don’t Bring Lulu - died in May 2010. Back in the 50s Provine had a well-publicised romance (well, the United States anyway) with Roger Moore when he was filming the popular TV series The Alaskans with her and, of course, and at a time when he was still married to Dorothy (Squires). Dorothy (S) apparently guessed something was wrong in their marriage when Roger kept murmuring ‘Dorothy’ in his sleep - because he always referred to her as ‘Dot’, never Dorothy! The Times’ obituary on Provine noted: “Provine was a regular on TV, gaining her first TV series The Alaskans (1959-60), set during the Yukon gold rush of the 1890s. She played a saloon owner and singer, Rocky Shaw, who has attracted an adventurer, [played by] Roger Moore. The onscreen romance reflected the fact that Moore had fallen for Provine in real life, which almost caused a rift between him and his wife Dorothy Squires. Frank Sinatra then dated her for a while …”
~
Some
people have asked why Dorothy’s parents’ final resting place, very
near her own in Streatham Vale Cemetery, South London, has no headstone or
plaque. Emily Squires, Dorothy’s niece, explains: “After the 1987
hurricane a lot of graves and trees were damaged, so the cemetery tried to
inform my grandfather, who was the owner of the grave, to see if he wanted
it refurbished. Unfortunately my grandfather had died some years earlier,
and, without realising, the cemetery authorities sent the letter to him
care of St. Mary’s Mount in Bexley (Dorothy’s home for many years),
which had burned down in the70s. I didn’t know about this until
Dorothy’s funeral, when I went to look for my grandparents’ grave and
was then told by the cemetery office what had happened. I used to visit
the grave when I lived in London. Dorothy had not put granddad’s name on
the stone when he died in the early 60s and the only name on the headstone
was ‘Emily Squires‘ (my grandmother), which was a bit spooky for me to
see as it was also my name!”
Streatham Vale Cemetery is the final resting place for several other notable names in entertainment, including comedy film actor Will Hay, Lupino Lane (The Lambeth Walk), American pianist Charlie Kunz. Australian music hall performer Florrie Forde, big band leader Hal Swain, Ben Warriss of the comedy duo Jewell & Warriss, and music hall comedian Gus Elen. The ashes of TV magician and presenter David Nixon, and Wilfred Brambell (Steptoe & Son) are also buried there, albeit without name markers. There is a section alongside the crematorium dedicated to members of the music hall profession. Check out www.findagrave.com and type in Streatham Vale Cemetery for more information.
~
Gloria Hunniford interviewed Sir Roger Moore in her series Gloria’s Greats on the Biography Channel and he mentioned Dorothy several times - there was also a very short clip of the couple together, arriving at some function. Gloria admitted in a magazine interview to tie-in with the series: “Sir Roger talked very openly about areas of his married life we thought he would never mention. I had hoped we might get a little about this third wife Luisa but I thought I’d have to skirt over his second wife, Dorothy Squires, completely.
“In
fact he revealed how his first marriage to an ice-skater was already on
the rocks when he met the Welsh singer Dorothy Squires, who became wife
number two. ‘I met Dorothy at a party at her home. She introduced me to
a world that I’d never met before. … one couldn’t fail to be
impressed by her success. You know, to watch her perform and to see the
depth of her talent. It was quite extraordinary‘, he commented in the TV
interview.”
~
Mark Willerton, curator of the splendid Burtey Fen Collection, the popular music memorabilia museum run from his home near Spalding in Lincolnshire, and who also runs websites for Kathy Kirby and the late Lita Roza, recently interviewed early 60s Welsh hit singer and performer Maureen Evans for the magazine Best Of British. Maureen revealed that her late father had been a big fan of Dorothy’s and he was delighted when she (Dorothy) specially wrote a song for Maureen called Acapulco Mexico. Maureen recorded the song and it was released as a single by her record label Oriole in 1963.
~
The
Internet reveals an article which was published by the Los Angeles Times (articles.latimes.com)
about Dorothy when she died in 1998, and mentions the fact that she wrote
Tammy Tell Me True for the film of the same name, which was recorded by
Sandra Dee, star of the movie, and married to Bobby Darin at the time.
Percy Faith, the legendary American record musical arranger, supervised
the session in Los Angeles.
~
Al Pillay, one of the stars of The Comic Strip and who has appeared in films and on TV, is also a very talented artist and has designed a series of cards, Demented Divas, featuring some of the most recognised divas in show business, including Dorothy Squires. When he left school at the age of 15, Al went to live in Manchester where he hooked up with Northern drag legends Bunny Lewis and Frank Foo Foo Lammar. Al became a successful drag performer himself, taking off Dorothy, Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne and Cleo Laine in his act, performing at the Sheffield Fiesta and Manchester Golden Garter clubs among other top Northern cabaret venues.
Al met Dorothy several times during the 80s and she apparently was a fan of his, watching his Comic Strip Presents … on Channel Four. He took off Dorothy and Shirley Bassey during one of his TV appearances. The Demented Divas card series was launched late in 2009 and, according to Al, Dorothy was the most popular selling image of the pre-Christmas season, with 30 cards in selling in one shop Dress Circle in |London’s West End in just a few days, and re-orders flowed in. Other ‘divas’ in the series include Joan Rivers, Carol Channing, Barbra Streisand, Eartha Kitt, Bette Davis (of course!), Mae West and Danny La Rue. Al says: “The series keeps the great show business personalities alive, in an age of fleeting, generic and all-too-fleeting types. Because of the popularity of the first Dorothy card image, I’m currently working on a new one inspired by her legendary Theatre Royal Drury Lane show, which will again be available at Dress Circle Records, the well-known theatrical shop in Monmouth Street, Covent Garden.”
A donation from all sales of the Demented Divas cards goes to the Kiss It Better charity at the legendary Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. The cards are available exclusively at the www.dresscircle.com website which also stocks the reissue of Al Pillay’s double CD A Life In Song, recorded at the Café de Paris, Piccadilly Circus, in 2007. The CD is also available on download on Itunes and Al can also be viewed on YouTube.
~
Ed Moreno was a popular radio DJ in the 60s and 70s and had a brief encounter with Dorothy Squires in 1970. Ed joined the fledgling Radio Caroline in 1964 and afterwards became programme director on Radio Invicta, the early sweet music station based on Red Sands Fort. He then joined Radio City and in 1967 became joint programme director of Radio 270 and stayed with the station almost until its close-down.
Ed was later involved in the initial planning for Radio Northsea International and his first show was aired on March 1 1970. His final show featured an interview with Dorothy Squires which was advertised as ’a live broadcast’ although it has long been believed that it was pre-recorded. Rodney Collins, a reporter for the popular music magazine Disc & Music Echo, says: “Dorothy Squires was due out to the boat for a live interview with Ed Moreno but it had also been decided to pre-record a stand-by interview in case of travel problems or bad weather. In the event the weather forecast was poor and Dot Squires decided against the journey. However, it continued to be billed as a live interview as it attracted a fair amount of pre-publicity.”
Terry Williams, a family friend of Dorothy Squires, adds to the story. “She did go to Holland to give the interview and was intending to visit the boat. However, the couple of days she had in Holland coincided with rough sea conditions and they could not take her to the ship, so she recorded the interview on land. She knew that her music was not the style of RNI but the mere fact that she could get her record played on the station, and that it would upset the BBC, was what made her do it! She had argued with somebody at the BBC and they refused to play her latest record [probably Till], although it was nothing to do with the ’payola’ scandal, which was a court case that she later won after being found innocent of the charges.”
Rod Collins, who has his own very popular music show on the internet station offshoremusicradio.com, and frequently plays Dorothy on his programmes (including such overlooked gems like Someone Other Than Me and Solitude‘s My Home), adds: “We’d billed Dorothy as broadcasting live and that’s what we intended to do … weather permitting. However, the forecast was dreadful (I was sick on the tender on the way out) so Ed and I travelled out to the radio ship with the stand-by tape. I don’t think anyone knew at the time it was a recording, and it was some years before rumours started to circulate about it all.
“Record Mirror was one of the music papers that gave Dorothy regular space. Peter Jones, the editor, had been a friend for years and I helped to set up the interview in the first place. It was one of two times I met Dot Squires. She was pleasant, very chatty, and very grateful for the newspaper publicity and the radio plays! For his part, Ed Moreno, who died in tragic circumstances some years ago, had one of THE best voices in radio. They are both sadly missed.”
~
Obituary:
Tony Osborne
Elsewhere on this website, Gary Osborne - a successful songwriter in his own right - writes of his childhood memories of Dorothy. His father was the musical arranger and composer Tony Osborne who worked with Dorothy, Shirley Bassey and Judy Garland among other musical legends. Tony had lived in retirement at his home in Australia (he emigrated there several years ago) and it is sad to report his death, albeit at the age of 87, in February 2009. Our commiserations go to Gary and his sister.
Tony Osborne played with the BBC Orchestra in the Fifties and later recorded Juke Box Jury, the original theme song for the popular BBC TV pop series. His musical arrangements for other artists included Shirley Bassey’s I (Who Have Nothing) and Gone (which he also composed), Petula Clark’s With All My Heart, Connie Francis’ Mama, and Gracie Fields’ Little Donkey. In 1969 Tony conducted the orchestra for Judy Garland’s final concerts which took place in Scandinavia. Tony also worked successfully with Alma Cogan, Eartha Kitt, Russ Conway, Gary Miller and Jimmy Young. He recorded with Dorothy on several occasions, including most notably Say It With Flowers and Blue Snowfall. An obituary in The Independent noted: “Tony Osborne was devoted to making music. He was a talented trumpeter and pianist, but he made his mark as a gifted arranger on many successful albums and singles during the 1950s and 60s. He was a consummate professional able to deal with prima donna antics from the likes of Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt and Dorothy Squires. ‘There’s no problem,’ he remarked. ‘You just talk back to them in the same language’.”
Also sad to report the death of TV actor Simon Oates, perhaps best remembered for his leading role playing Dr. John Ridge in the very popular BBC TV series Doomwatch in the early 70s. Simon will also be remembered by many Dorothy fans for being the compere at her historic comeback concert at the London Palladium in December 1970 and, of course, it is Simon’s voice that we hear on the live recording of the show, with the opening line … ‘I don’t know what you say about this young lady’. Ironically, Simon Oates was once rumoured to be in line to take over from Roger Moore as James Bond!
~
Obituary:
Danny La Rue
The legendary Danny La Rue died in June 2009 at the age of 81 after suffering failing health in recent years. However he had continued to make the occasional public appearances, speaking at the former editor of The Stage magazine Peter Hepple‘s memorial service at St. Paul’s, the actors church in Covent Garden, attending an 80th birthday tribute lunch for Lita Roza, and appearing on TV on the occasion of his 8oth birthday.
Danny’s long and dazzling career needs little recalling here. Suffice to say, he was Britain’s best-known - and highest-paid - female impersonator for more than three decades, with his own nightclub in London’s Hanover Square back in the 60s - which was a magnet for Royalty and celebrities - as well as starring in many West End shows.
Danny was a long-time friend of Dorothy Squires. I can recall interviewing him at Batley Variety Club in 1973 and they had already been friends for more than 20 years at that time. Danny frequently sent up Dorothy in his stage act, impersonating her singing Say It With Flowers in a hilarious segment, which he also performed in front of the late Queen Mother and Princess Margaret at the 1973 Royal Variety Show. Later. Danny recorded Dorothy’s composition for his EMI album, To Mother With Love.
Danny often attended Dorothy’s London concerts and I recall seeing him sitting in the Royal Box at the London Palladium with the late Dame Barbara Cartland, John Inman, and Norman Newell for one of her shows. Sad to think that they have all gone now. He also unveiled a plaque for Billy Reid in Southampton, again doing a gentle send-up of Dorothy, and he was one of the onscreen contributors to the BBC TV Wales documentary Rain Rain Go Away about Dorothy’s life.
Danny’s
funeral took place at London’s Kensal Rise and he is buried with his
late partner, Jack Hanson. Thanks for all the pleasure you gave to so many
over the years, Danny - and may you rest in peace.
John
Hartley, who knew Dorothy towards the close of her life, and attended
Danny’s funeral, writes a regular blog at Mothership Blog. This can be
accessed free by anyone. Scroll down to the Archives section on Mothership
Blog and look for June 2009, where you can read his account of Danny La
Rue’s Funeral; then refer to November 2009, where you can read his
controversial blog, Dame Shirley Bassey In Decline?
~
Dorothy continues to attract press attention some years after her death. In August 2009 she was the subject of a two-page spread in the Daily Express, headlined: “James Bond’s Wild Wife”. The article by a writer called York Membury started: “Dorothy Squires was the fiery singing star who was a big name long before the unknown actor she married called Roger Moore. And despite their bitter break-up, the 007 star’s special gesture (offering to pay for a plaque to be erected in her memory in Llanelli) shows he has never forgotten her”.
The article detailed Roger and Dorothy’s story marriage and included a large picture of the couple together in the 50s, as well as a glamorous shot of Dorothy in later life. Incidentally, Roger Moore read extensive extracts from his autobiography in a Radio 2 series, and Dorothy naturally was mentioned many times, generally in most affectionate terms. There is also a ‘talking book’ available of My Word Is My Bond, with Sir Roger once again narrating.
~
Patrick
Newley
Patrick Newley was a regular editorial contributor to The Stage magazine and for several years back in the 70s he also managed the inimitable Mrs Shufflewick (aka Rex Jamieson). Patrick wrote a couple of show business anecdotal books, including one about ’Shuff’, both of which mentioned Dorothy, relating humorous stories. Sadly Patrick Newley died in the summer of 2009, just several days after Danny La Rue who had been his father’s childhood friend (in fact, Patrick wrote the obituary for Danny which appeared in The Stage). A further irony was that just a year before Patrick had organised a tribute lunch for Lita Roza in Covent Garden at which Danny was a guest of honour.
In one of his Stage articles - published in the weekly Tabard column - Patrick recalled: “Lynda Lee-Potter [the noted Daily Mail columnist] ended up on the losing side of a war of words with the equally waspish and confrontational Dorothy Squires. When the singer spent £5,000 to become the first individual to hire the London Palladium, Lee-Potter wrote a typically subdued article under an equally typically subdued Daily Mail headline: ‘Don’t do it Dot! You can’t buy success!’.
Squires replied with a huge Get Well Soon card that read: ‘For once I fully agree with you! No one can buy success. |If they could, the millionaires would buy the lot - and keep it for themselves and their children and their children. I am paying for the chance to prove what I can do, having been in the charts three times in the last 18 months. Dear Lynda, you’ll have to pay black market prices to get in because my comeback sold out in a day.’
“And how right she was,” Patrick Newley noted. “Squires packed the Palladium for annual shows and earned her own season there [in July 1974]. Her only niece Emily Jane Squires sums it up: ‘Lynda Lee-Potter and my aunt Dot were two of a kind - colourful, controversial and top of the tree true professionals. Bless them both’.
Patrick
Newley related another hilarious story about Dorothy in The Stage. “The
volatile Dorothy Squires was no stranger to voicing her opinion. At the
end of her concerts, faithful fans normally showered the stage with
bouquets of flowers. I always thought these finales were rigged but on one
occasion I saw her in the 80s and not so much as a daisy chain graced the
stage. As La Squires, wearing a radio mic, angrily swept off into the
wings the entire audience heard her voice over the speakers shout:
‘Where’s the f****** flowers?’ You can’t beat that for protest.”
~
Many of Dorothy’s big-selling records were back in the 40s before the official pop chart was born (New Musical Express launched the first Top 10 based on actual record sales in November 1952), so she is often, perhaps unfairly, overlooked by chart historians. Her only official chart hits were I’m Walking Behind You in 1953, Say It With Flower with Russ Conway (1961), For Once In My Life (1969), and Till and My Way (both 1970). However the Guinness Book of Hit Singles has published a definitive list of Post-War Pop Hits, which were based on sheet music sales (the criteria before the launch of the chart based on actual record sales) and Dorothy features high. The Gypsy was number 1 in the listing in September 1945, with Dorothy and the Ink Spots both credited with performing the Billy Reid song, and remained at the top until the end of October. Another big success was A Tree In The Meadow, which was number 1 sheet music from February 5 1948 through to 22 April 1948. Both Dorothy and singer/pianist Leslie ’Hutch’ Hutchinson are credited with the hit versions of the Reid composition.
DOROTHY SQUIRES MEETS ROSEMARY SQUIRES
Dorothy meets Rosemary - the two Squires girls met up at a showbusiness function. Picture courtesy of Mark Willerton of the Burtey Fen Collection
Pontyberem’s
Famed Daughter:
Dorothy
Squires
By Keith Evans
(March 12, 2008)
In 1977
Melody Maker approached Dorothy Squires for her reaction, as a fan, to
the sudden death of ‘The King of Rock and Roll’. ‘Poor Elvis’ she
sighed ‘he was my greatest fan.’ Elvis Presley reputedly had a full
collection of her records, attended her American tours and asked her to
sing her hit single ‘My Mother.’
From 1945
‘Miss Squires’ was one of Britain’s most popular singers; by 1950
its highest paid. She beguiled capacity audiences, alternately belting out
songs with semaphore arm movements or gently realise subtle, poignant,
even tearful, refrains. But a torrent of emotional and legal setbacks
following her separation and divorce from Roger Moore preoccupied her
remaining thirty years. From millionairess to pauper: a modern Biblical
parable of rags to riches to rags.
Dorothy was born ‘Edna May’ on March 25, 1915, in a fairground van on a field now home to Pontyberem Primary School. Her parents, Archibald Squires and Emily (nee Rickets) respectively sprang from Rhondda and Gwendraeth families. Dot’s paternal grandmother ran a coconut shy stall. When the show moved on the Squires stayed in Pontyberem, initially with Dorothy’s uncle Bob, aunt Lanu and maternal grandmother at ‘San Domingo’ cottage – long since demolished.
Archibald
became a steel worker and moved the family to Dafen. On leaving school
‘Dot’ served in Woolworth’s before toiling in a Llanelli tin-plate
works; she bore scars on her forearms from this time. She revealed to
Vincent Kane in 1977 that her first paid performance (6d) was at 13
singing and playing the ukulele to Pontyberem miners. At 16 she sang on
stage at Llanelli’s Ritz Ballroom, later joining the Denza Players. A
year later she furtively left for London to live with a cousin and work as
a nurse while auditioning in for showbiz.
American
song writer Charlie Kunz saw her perform and arranged for her first radio
broadcast in December 1936. During 1938 Billy Reid, an English composer
and band-leader, left his wife and two daughters to devote himself to
Dorothy and her career. In 1945 he composed her first big hit song,
‘Coming Home.’ By the late 1940s, with an array of Reid songs,
including ‘The Gypsy’ and ‘Danger Ahead’, she outsold such
recording artists as Judy Garland and Peggy Lee. Living together in a
Bexley mansion, Dot and Billy jointly bought Llanelli’s Astoria Theatre.
Around this
time of austerity and rationing, as a pre-school infant, Saundra Storch,
whose parents Leonard and Donna Davies were publicans of Pontyberem’s
New Inn, received an unexpected gift from the superstar; an embroidered
cosmetic’s bag with a glittering compact, exquisite lipsticks and
toiletries.
When Squires
and Reid split up in 1951, after punching and kicking each other in the
Astoria bar (her father was hit in the face), he acquired the Llanelli
theatre while she took the Bexley mansion. Dot’s aunt and uncle, Lizzie
and Dai Walters of Bont’s Parcymynach, looked after the Kent mansion for
her.
Roger Moore,
then a struggling actor and catalogue model, entered Dot’s life in 1952
when attending one of her famed parties. July 1953 found them married by a
tipsy American minister in Jersey City; Moore was twelve years her junior.
Dot discovered she could never have children. She now did all to promote
her handsome husband’s US career, first with MGM then Warner Bros. The
couple, with a Hollywood home, worked and partied with ‘The Stars’,
including Gary Cooper, Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Kelly, Doris Day and Rock
Hudson. She was complimented for her singing by the legendary French
performer Edith Piaf. As the career of a future 007 heartthrob rose, with
eponymous leads in TV hits Ivanhoe and Maverick, Dot’s
career ebbed away.
On
occasions, with Roger Moore, she stayed with another Pontyberem aunt, Mrs
Clarke, of Maes Y Deri. Nearby a mutual friend and seamstress adjusted
Dorothy’s chic clothes - a mink coat being the most memorable item to
re-hem. Her costumes, flamboyant, gossamer, colourful, sequinned and edged
in ostrich feathers, were created by Dougie Donnell; dress designer to
other elite performers including Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield.
Despite
international celebrity, locals who knew the Squires family, treated the
singing star as ‘one of us’, but for some feigning shock at her
jewelled fingers and a gold ankle chain. She revisited many times after
Moore left her for an Italian actress, Latisa Mattioti, in 1961. In the
company of Dot’s pianist she rehearsed in her aunt’s parlour in Maes Y
Deri to the delight of Mrs Richard’s next door. An acquaintance told me,
‘Dot was welcoming and generous with her attention and hospitality to
family and friends in Pontyberem and Dafen.’
The year she
and the star of TVs Saint series parted, Dorothy re-entered the
charts, with popular pianist Russ Conway, singing her own composition,
‘Say It With Flowers.’ She cut here album ‘We’ll Keep A Welcome’
in 1966 before a choc-a-bloc audience at Llanelli’s Regal Cinema. In
1970 she proved her worth and trounced her critics in TV and radio
circles, by hiring and reaping sell out concerts at London’s Palladium
and Talk of the Town with a noted show at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
But
Pontyberem’s famed daughter was on a collision course with destiny.
Headlines from the period tell much: ‘Singer Dot Quits Over Rumpus at
Nightclub.’ ‘The Saint’s wife arrested at home.’ ‘Judge’s jail
warning to Dorothy Squires – fined £100 for kicking a taxi driver.’
‘Squires rude and offensive court told.’ ‘Miss Squires who is suing
the News of the World claims damages for alleged libel…admitted
she felt bitter at times towards Miss Mattioti ’I could have murdered
her if I could have caught her… Who wouldn’t?’ She was the other
woman… I was demented because my world had been cut from underneath
me’ ‘denied she was still bitter when Mr Moore married …at the time
that Miss Squires was acquitted of a breathalyser offence.’ Her wildfire
notoriety knew no boundary.
She launched
and paid dearly for 33 law suits, losing 30 of them. Dorothy sued in turn
such as screen actor Kenneth More for libel in 1968, prosecuted in turn in
1972 for kicking Bernard Bresslaw’s brother, 1973 accused of trying to
bribe an operative on BBC radio’s Two Way Family Favourites to
promote her records, in 1979 suing the intended publishers of her
autobiography for non-payment of serialisation in the Sunday People.
She launched so many prosecutions that a judge, in exasperation, dubbed
her ‘a vexatious litigant’ and forbade her further cases without prior
High Court permission.
To add to
her woes, in 1974 her under-insured Bexley home, a former residence of
Edward VII’s mistress, burnt down. Dot bought a mansion by a river; it
flooded. She was declared bankrupt in 1988; all her possessions, including
her jewels, were sold at public auction. She rented a cottage near
Pontefract, living as a recluse. In 1995, ill and destitute, she left
Yorkshire hours before bailiffs enacted a repossession order. Thanks to
Esme Cole, a fan and friend, in Trebanog she shared a rent free home for
the last three years of her life fighting cancer: A far cry from halcyon
days owning race horse winners, one of whom she spoke to in Welsh, and
hosting stars such as Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Diana Dors, Tessie
O’Shea and her unlikely close friend, the comedian, Hilda Baker.
At her last
public concert in 1990, at the Brighton Dome, she forgot the opening
lyrics of a song. At its end she laughingly declared: ‘I told you I’d
balls it up!’
At
Cardiff’s BUPA Hospital in 1996 her £6,000 bill for cancer treatment
and surgery was paid for by Sir Roger Moore. In the late spring of 1998,
as she lay dying of lung cancer at Llwynpia Hospital, near Pontypridd, her
ex-spouse rang from UNICEF in n Sweden. Over the phone he told a niece to
say ‘Rog is thinking of you’, asking that Dot’s hand be squeezed for
him. When told Dorothy Squires said ‘Magic’ She died hours later on
April 14, aged 83. She is buried in Stretham Park cemetery, south London,
in the same grave as her brother, Captain Fred Squires, who died aged 37.
A decade on, her countless fans run an exceptional internet website. Re-releases of this Welsh diva’s musical triumphs by major international studios not only safeguards her legacy but points to a Dorothy Squires revival. Perhaps the time is near when Pontyberem marks itself out as the birthplace of Elvis’s favourite female singer.
Click on image to read
complete article
A plaque in Dorothy's memory was recently unveiled in Pontyberem, South Wales. Many thanks to Alec Jones for sending in the piece which appeared in the local Llanelli Star.
Dorothy Memories June 2010
Ian Parsons has written a book on the history of Swansea Grand Theatre which is being launched at the South Wales venue in August 2010. Ian has been working on the book, Swansea’s Grand, for some time and has spoken to many people associated with the theatre and about its history. Dorothy Squires appeared there on 27 March 1967 and the book contains anecdotes about her. Ian’s website, which accompanies the book, has had more than 15,000 hits so far. There will be more information about Ian’s book later.
American actress, singer and TV star Dorothy Provine - best-known to British audiences for her 60s appearances in the TV series The Roarin’ Twenties, which gave her a hit single with Don’t Bring Lulu - died in May 2010. Back in the 50s Provine had a well-publicised romance (well, the United States anyway) with Roger Moore when he was filming the popular TV series The Alaskans with her and, of course, and at a time when he was still married to Dorothy (Squires). Dorothy (S) apparently guessed something was wrong in their marriage when Roger kept murmuring ‘Dorothy’ in his sleep - because he always referred to her as ‘Dot’, never Dorothy! The Times’ obituary on Provine noted: “Provine was a regular on TV, gaining her first TV series The Alaskans (1959-60), set during the Yukon gold rush of the 1890s. She played a saloon owner and singer, Rocky Shaw, who has attracted an adventurer, [played by] Roger Moore. The onscreen romance reflected the fact that Moore had fallen for Provine in real life, which almost caused a rift between him and his wife Dorothy Squires. Frank Sinatra then dated her for a while …”
Some people have asked why Dorothy’s parents’ final resting place, very near her own in Streatham Vale Cemetery, South London, has no headstone or plaque. Emily Squires, Dorothy’s niece, explains: “After the 1987 hurricane a lot of graves and trees were damaged, so the cemetery tried to inform my grandfather, who was the owner of the grave, to see if he wanted it refurbished. Unfortunately my grandfather had died some years earlier, and, without realising, the cemetery authorities sent the letter to him care of St. Mary’s Mount in Bexley (Dorothy’s home for many years), which had burned down in the70s. I didn’t know about this until Dorothy’s funeral, when I went to look for my grandparents’ grave and was then told by the cemetery office what had happened. I used to visit the grave when I lived in London. Dorothy had not put granddad’s name on the stone when he died in the early 60s and the only name on the headstone was ‘Emily Squires‘ (my grandmother), which was a bit spooky for me to see as it was also my name!”
Streatham Vale Cemetery is the final resting place for several other notable names in entertainment, including comedy film actor Will Hay, Lupino Lane (The Lambeth Walk), American pianist Charlie Kunz. Australian music hall performer Florrie Forde, big band leader Hal Swain, Ben Warriss of the comedy duo Jewell & Warriss, and music hall comedian Gus Elen. The ashes of TV magician and presenter David Nixon, and Wilfred Brambell (Steptoe & Son) are also buried there, albeit without name markers. There is a section alongside the crematorium dedicated to members of the music hall profession. Check out www.findagrave.com and type in Streatham Vale Cemetery for more information.
Gloria Hunniford interviewed Sir Roger Moore in her series Gloria’s Greats on the Biography Channel and he mentioned Dorothy several times - there was also a very short clip of the couple together, arriving at some function. Gloria admitted in a magazine interview to tie-in with the series: “Sir Roger talked very openly about areas of his married life we thought he would never mention. I had hoped we might get a little about this third wife Luisa but I thought I’d have to skirt over his second wife, Dorothy Squires, completely.
“In fact he revealed how his first marriage to an ice-skater was already on the rocks when he met the Welsh singer Dorothy Squires, who became wife number two. ‘I met Dorothy at a party at her home. She introduced me to a world that I’d never met before. … one couldn’t fail to be impressed by her success. You know, to watch her perform and to see the depth of her talent. It was quite extraordinary‘, he commented in the TV interview.”
Mark Willerton, curator of the splendid Burtey Fen Collection, the popular music memorabilia museum run from his home near Spalding in Lincolnshire, and who also runs websites for Kathy Kirby and the late Lita Roza, recently interviewed early 60s Welsh hit singer and performer Maureen Evans for the magazine Best Of British. Maureen revealed that her late father had been a big fan of Dorothy’s and he was delighted when she (Dorothy) specially wrote a song for Maureen called Acapulco Mexico. Maureen recorded the song and it was released as a single by her record label Oriole in 1963.
The Internet reveals an article which was published by the Los Angeles Times (articles.latimes.com) about Dorothy when she died in 1988, and mentions the fact that she wrote Tammy Tell Me True for the film of the same name, which was recorded by Sandra Dee, star of the movie, and married to Bobby Darin at the time. Percy Faith, the legendary American record musical arranger, supervised the session in Los Angeles.
Al Pillay, one of the stars of The Comic Strip and who has appeared in
films and on TV, is also a very talented artist and has designed a series of cards, Demented Divas, featuring some of the most recognised divas in show business, including Dorothy Squires. When he left school at the age of 15, Al went to live in Manchester where he hooked up with Northern drag legends Bunny Lewis and Frank Foo Foo
Lammar. Al became a successful drag performer himself, taking off Dorothy, Shirley
Bassey, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne and Cleo Laine in his act, performing at the Sheffield Fiesta and Manchester Golden Garter clubs among other top Northern cabaret venues.
Al met Dorothy several times during the 80s and she apparently was a fan of his, watching his Comic Strip Presents … on Channel Four. He took off Dorothy and Shirley Bassey during one of his TV appearances. The Demented Divas card series was launched late in 2009 and, according to Al, Dorothy was the most popular selling image of the pre-Christmas season, with 30 cards in selling in one shop Dress Circle in |London’s West End in just a few days, and re-orders flowed in. Other ‘divas’ in the series include Joan Rivers, Carol
Channing, Barbra Streisand, Eartha Kitt, Bette Davis (of course!), Mae West and Danny La Rue. Al says: “The series keeps the great show business personalities alive, in an age of fleeting, generic and all-too-fleeting types. Because of the popularity of the first Dorothy card image, I’m currently working on a new one inspired by her legendary Theatre Royal Drury Lane show, which will again be available at Dress Circle Records, the well-known theatrical shop in Monmouth Street, Covent Garden.”
A donation from all sales of the Demented Divas cards goes to the Kiss It Better charity at the legendary Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. The cards are available exclusively at the www.dresscircle.com website which also stocks the reissue of Al Pillay’s double CD A Life In Song, recorded at the Café de Paris, Piccadilly Circus, in 2007. The CD is also available on download on Itunes and Al can also be viewed on
YouTube.
Ed Moreno was a popular radio DJ in the 60s and 70s and had a brief encounter with Dorothy Squires in 1970. Ed joined the fledgling Radio Caroline in 1964 and afterwards became programme director on Radio
Invicta, the early sweet music station based on Red Sands Fort. He then joined Radio City and in 1967 became joint programme director of Radio 270 and stayed with the station almost until its close-down.
Ed was later involved in the initial planning for Radio Northsea International and his first show was aired on March 1 1970. His final show featured an interview with Dorothy Squires which was advertised as ’a live broadcast’ although it has long been believed that it was pre-recorded. Rodney Collins, a reporter for the popular music magazine Disc & Music Echo, says: “Dorothy Squires was due out to the boat for a live interview with Ed Moreno but it had also been decided to pre-record a stand-by interview in case of travel problems or bad weather. In the event the weather forecast was poor and Dot Squires decided against the journey. However, it continued to be billed as a live interview as it attracted a fair amount of pre-publicity.”
Terry Williams, a family friend of Dorothy Squires, adds to the story. “She did go to Holland to give the interview and was intending to visit the boat. However, the couple of days she had in Holland coincided with rough sea conditions and they could not take her to the ship, so she recorded the interview on land. She knew that her music was not the style of RNI but the mere fact that she could get her record played on the station, and that it would upset the BBC, was what made her do it! She had argued with somebody at the BBC and they refused to play her latest record [probably Till], although it was nothing to do with the ’payola’ scandal, which was a court case that she later won after being found innocent of the charges.”
Rod Collins, who has his own very popular music show on the internet station
offshoremusicradio.com, and frequently plays Dorothy on his programmes (including such overlooked gems like Someone Other Than Me and Solitude‘s My Home), adds: “We’d billed Dorothy as broadcasting live and that’s what we intended to do … weather permitting. However, the forecast was dreadful (I was sick on the tender on the way out) so Ed and I travelled out to the radio ship with the stand-by tape. I don’t think anyone knew at the time it was a recording, and it was some years before rumours started to circulate about it all.
“Record Mirror was one of the music papers that gave Dorothy regular space. Peter Jones, the editor, had been a friend for years and I helped to set up the interview in the first place. It was one of two times I met Dot Squires. She was pleasant, very chatty, and very grateful for the newspaper publicity and the radio plays! For his part, Ed Moreno, who died in tragic circumstances some years ago, had one of THE best voices in radio. They are both sadly missed.”
Obituary: Tony Osborne
Elsewhere on this website, Gary Osborne - a successful songwriter in his own right - writes of his childhood memories of Dorothy. His father was the musical arranger and composer Tony Osborne who worked with Dorothy, Shirley Bassey and Judy Garland among other musical legends. Tony had lived in retirement at his home in Australia (he emigrated there several years ago) and it is sad to report his death, albeit at the age of 87, in February 2009. Our commiserations go to Gary and his sister.
Tony Osborne played with the BBC Orchestra in the Fifties and later recorded Juke Box Jury, the original theme song for the popular BBC TV pop series. His musical arrangements for other artists included Shirley Bassey’s I (Who Have Nothing) and Gone (which he also composed), Petula Clark’s With All My Heart, Connie Francis’ Mama, and Gracie Fields’ Little Donkey. In 1969 Tony conducted the orchestra for Judy Garland’s final concerts which took place in Scandinavia. Tony also worked successfully with Alma Cogan, Eartha
Kitt, Russ Conway, Gary Miller and Jimmy Young. He recorded with Dorothy on several occasions, including most notably Say It With Flowers and Blue Snowfall. An obituary in The Independent noted: “Tony Osborne was devoted to making music. He was a talented trumpeter and pianist, but he made his mark as a gifted arranger on many successful albums and singles during the 1950s and 60s. He was a consummate professional able to deal with prima donna antics from the likes of Shirley
Bassey, Eartha Kitt and Dorothy Squires. ‘There’s no problem,’ he remarked. ‘You just talk back to them in the same language’.”
Also sad to report the death of TV actor Simon Oates, perhaps best remembered for his leading role playing Dr. John Ridge in the very popular BBC TV series Doomwatch in the early 70s. Simon will also be remembered by many Dorothy fans for being the compere at her historic comeback concert at the London Palladium in December 1970 and, of course, it is Simon’s voice that we hear on the live recording of the show, with the opening line … ‘I don’t know what you say about this young lady’. Ironically, Simon Oates was once rumoured to be in line to take over from Roger Moore as James Bond!
Obituary: Danny La Rue
The legendary Danny La Rue died in June 2009 at the age of 81 after suffering failing health in recent years. However he had continued to make the occasional public appearances, speaking at the former editor of The Stage magazine Peter Hepple‘s memorial service at St. Paul’s, the actors church in Covent Garden, attending an 80th birthday tribute lunch for Lita
Roza, and appearing on TV on the occasion of his 8oth birthday.
Danny’s long and dazzling career needs little recalling here. Suffice to say, he was Britain’s best-known - and highest-paid - female impersonator for more than three decades, with his own nightclub in London’s Hanover Square back in the 60s - which was a magnet for Royalty and celebrities - as well as starring in many West End shows.
Danny was a long-time friend of Dorothy Squires. I can recall interviewing him at Batley Variety Club in 1973 and they had already been friends for more than 20 years at that time. Danny frequently sent up Dorothy in his stage act, impersonating her singing Say It With Flowers in a hilarious segment, which he also performed in front of the late Queen Mother and Princess Margaret at the 1973 Royal Variety Show. Later. Danny recorded Dorothy’s composition for his EMI album, To Mother With Love.
Danny often attended Dorothy’s London concerts and I recall seeing him sitting in the Royal Box at the London Palladium with the late Dame Barbara
Cartland, John Inman, and Norman Newell for one of her shows. Sad to think that they have all gone now. He also unveiled a plaque for Billy Reid in Southampton, again doing a gentle send-up of Dorothy, and he was one of the onscreen contributors to the BBC TV Wales documentary Rain Rain Go Away about Dorothy’s life.
Danny’s funeral took place at London’s Kensal Rise and he is buried with his late partner, Jack Hanson. Thanks for all the pleasure you gave to so many over the years, Danny - and may you rest in peace.
John Hartley, who knew Dorothy towards the close of her life, and attended Danny’s funeral, writes a regular blog at Mothership
Blog. This can be accessed free by anyone. Scroll down to the Archives section on Mothership Blog and look for June 2009, where you can read his account of Danny La Rue’s Funeral; then refer to November 2009, where you can read his controversial
blog, Dame Shirley Bassey In Decline?
Dorothy continues to attract press attention some years after her death. In August 2009 she was the subject of a two-page spread in the Daily Express, headlined: “James Bond’s Wild Wife”. The article by a writer called York Membury started: “Dorothy Squires was the fiery singing star who was a big name long before the unknown actor she married called Roger Moore. And despite their bitter break-up, the 007 star’s special gesture (offering to pay for a plaque to be erected in her memory in
Llanelli) shows he has never forgotten her”.
The article detailed Roger and Dorothy’s story marriage and included a large picture of the couple together in the 50s, as well as a glamorous shot of Dorothy in later life. Incidentally, Roger Moore read extensive extracts from his autobiography in a Radio 2 series, and Dorothy naturally was mentioned many times, generally in most affectionate terms. There is also a ‘talking book’ available of My Word Is My Bond, with Sir Roger once again narrating.
Patrick Newley
Patrick Newley was a regular editorial contributor to The Stage magazine and for several years back in the 70s he also managed the inimitable Mrs Shufflewick
(aka Rex Jamieson). Patrick wrote a couple of show business anecdotal books, including one about
’Shuff’, both of which mentioned Dorothy, relating humorous stories. Sadly Patrick Newley died in the summer of 2009, just several days after Danny La Rue who had been his father’s childhood friend (in fact, Patrick wrote the obituary for Danny which appeared in The Stage). A further irony was that just a year before Patrick had organised a tribute lunch for Lita Roza in Covent Garden at which Danny was a guest of
honour.
In one of his Stage articles - published in the weekly Tabard column - Patrick recalled: “Lynda Lee-Potter [the noted Daily Mail columnist] ended up on the losing side of a war of words with the equally waspish and confrontational Dorothy Squires. When the singer spent £5,000 to become the first individual to hire the London Palladium, Lee-Potter wrote a typically subdued article under an equally typically subdued Daily Mail headline: ‘Don’t do it Dot! You can’t buy success!’.
Squires replied with a huge Get Well Soon card that read: ‘For once I fully agree with you! No one can buy success. |If they could, the millionaires would buy the lot - and keep it for themselves and their children and their children. I am paying for the chance to prove what I can do, having been in the charts three times in the last 18 months. Dear Lynda, you’ll have to pay black market prices to get in because my comeback sold out in a day.’
“And how right she was,” Patrick Newley noted. “Squires packed the Palladium for annual shows and earned her own season there [in July 1974]. Her only niece Emily Jane Squires sums it up: ‘Lynda Lee-Potter and my aunt Dot were two of a kind -
colourful, controversial and top of the tree true professionals. Bless them both’.
Patrick Newley related another hilarious story about Dorothy in The Stage. “The volatile Dorothy Squires was no stranger to voicing her opinion. At the end of her concerts, faithful fans normally showered the stage with bouquets of flowers. I always thought these finales were rigged but on one occasion I saw her in the 80s and not so much as a daisy chain graced the stage. As La Squires, wearing a radio
mic, angrily swept off into the wings the entire audience heard her voice over the speakers shout: ‘Where’s the f****** flowers?’ You can’t beat that for protest.”
Many of Dorothy’s big-selling records were back in the 40s before the official pop chart was born (New Musical Express launched the first Top 10 based on actual record sales in November 1952), so she is often, perhaps unfairly, overlooked by chart historians. Her only official chart hits were I’m Walking Behind You in 1953, Say It With Flower with Russ Conway (1961), For Once In My Life (1969), and Till and My Way (both 1970). However the Guinness Book of Hit Singles has published a definitive list of Post-War Pop Hits, which were based on sheet music sales (the criteria before the launch of the chart based on actual record sales) and Dorothy features high. The Gypsy was number 1 in the listing in September 1945, with Dorothy and the Ink Spots both credited with performing the Billy Reid song, and remained at the top until the end of October. Another big success was A Tree In The Meadow, which was number 1 sheet music from February 5 1948 through to 22 April 1948. Both Dorothy and singer/pianist Leslie ’Hutch’ Hutchinson are credited with the hit versions of the Reid composition.
RARE PHOTOS / MEMORABILIA
From the Burtey Fen Collection - many thanks to Mark Willerton
Click to enlarge and read
entire article
This was the first time I saw Dorothy. I had been to see Shirley Bassey in November 73 and was knocked out. I new Dorothy had a similar style and when she was at our local theatre, booked tickets. No, she wasn't as polished as Shirley, no the orchestra wasn't as
professional, yes her false eyelashes came off, yes she hit wrong notes and was out of tune at times but, what a show! Became a fan at sixteen and went on to see her many more times, the last
time, at Wimbledon.
- Stephen Debell
Geri Smith has added new dates for her one-woman show The Dorothy Squires Story which she first performed at the Edinburgh Festival some while back, and has since repeated several times with great success. Geri will be performing at a matinee performance in Llwyn-y-Pia, Rhonda Valley, South Wales, on 4 June. More importantly for London (and Home Counties) based Dorothy Squires fans,, she will be taking the show to the annual Henley Fringe Festival, with matinee and evening performances at the Chamber Room in Henley scheduled for July 23, 24 and 25.
Welsh
Legends
Dorothy
Squires
was
the
first
featured
name
in
the
second
BBC
TV
Wales
series
of
Welsh
Greats,
which
aired
on
23
February
2009.
Produced
by
Dafydd
O’Connor,
and
presented
by
Cerys
Matthews
of
the
best-selling
Welsh
band
Catatonia,
the
programme
was
an
excellent
30-minute
overview
of
Dorothy’s
long
career
and
turbulent
personal
life,
and
included
some
footage
previously
unseen.
Radio
Times
(in
its
Welsh
edition)
billed
it:
“Cerys
Matthews
presents
a
profile
of
the
glittering
yet
tragic
life
of
Dorothy
Squires,
the
Welsh
diva
who
was
one
of
the
biggest
stars
of
the
1940s
but
died
a
virtual
recluse
in
1998.”
Unlike
many
other
programmes
of
this
nature,
the
Welsh
Legends
programmes
do
not
have
‘taking
heads’
as
such
and
much
of
the
story
was
told
by
the
featured
subject
via
archive
footage
(other
names
in
the
series
have
included
actress
Rachel
Roberts,
Richard
Burton,
Wynford
Vaughan
Thomas
and
Sir
Harry
Secombe).
The
Dorothy
programme
included
some
interview
footage
originally
seen
in
the
Rain
Rain
Go
Away
documentary
(broadcast
in
early
1999,
just
before
Dorothy‘s
death),
and
also
some
not
previously
seen.
There
were
also
a
couple
of
clips
in
colour
from
the
Stars
In
Their
Eyes
film,
as
well
as
an
extract
from
The
Big
Time
(which
introduced
Sheena
Easton
to
fame
and
fortune)
and
film
interview
footage
featuring
Sir
Roger
Moore
(previously
seen).
The
choice
of
Cerys
Matthews
(who
had
a
Top
10
hit
with
Tom
Jones
on
the
oldie
Baby
It’s
Cold
Outside
a
while
back)
was
particularly
inspired
as
Cerys,
like
Dorothy,
is
also
from
Llanelli
and
it
was
interesting
to
see
a
contemporary
pop
artist
presenting
the
programme,
as
opposed
to
an
’older’
name.
Overall,
the
programme
was
fair
and
balanced,
underlining
Dorothy’s
climb
to
success
and
how
popular
she
was
during
her
heyday.
Naturally
there
was
also
much
emphasis
on
the
latter
years
when
things
began
to
go
downhill,
but
that
made
for
a
gripping
story.
Hopefully
the
programme
will
have
helped
to
ignite
further
interest
in
Dorothy
Squires,
and
it
is
only
a
pity
that
it
could
only
be
watched
in
Wales
(although
it
could
be
viewed
via
the
internet
for
a
week
after
its
transmission).
Thanks for an excellent programme, Dafydd.
Charlie
Gracie
Charlie
Gracie
junior
has
been
in
touch
with
the
website,
with
some
fascinating
memories
of
his
father’s
association
(albeit
briefly!)
with
Dorothy
Squires.
Charlie
wrote:
“What
a
great
site
for
Dorothy!
She
was
indeed
a
great
star
who
gave
her
all
to
her
fans
-
whether
on
record,
or
in
live
performances.
My
father,
whose
hits
included
the
number
one
Butterfly,
Fabulous,
Wandering
Eyes
and
Nine-Nine
Ways,
almost
got
to
work
with
her.
In
1957
Dad
and
Dot
were
supposed
to
have
joint
top
billing
at
the
London
Hippodrome,
but
when
Lew
and
Leslie
Grade
demoted
Dorothy
to
‘featured
artist’
(not
my
Dad’s
doing)
she
walked
off
the
show.
Even
though
my
Dad
was
a
hot
recording
artist
at
the
time,
one
could
understand
how
Dorothy
felt,
having
been
a
well-established
artist
for
many
a
year
in
her
homeland.
However
there
were
never
any
hard
feelings
between
my
Dad
and
Dot.
In
fact
Dad
later
attended
one
of
her
concerts
and
Dot
introduced
him
from
the
stage
and
gave
Dad
a
kiss
on
the
cheek!
Your site brings back some great memories and I shared it with my father who, although now 72, is still playing all over the world. In November 2008 he completed a UK tour at the Liverpool Empire and was back for more concerts recently.”
Charlie
forwarded
a
recent
news
item
about
the
fact
that
The
Hippodrome
(which
later
became
The
Talk
Of
The
Town
before
reverting
back
to
The
Hippodrome,
albeit
in
its
latest
guise
as
a
dance
club)
and
its
need
for
preservation
(the
latest
talk
is
that
it
is
to
become
a
gambling
casino).
The
London
Hippodrome
has
had
a
temporary
reprieve
as
it
has
it
has
now
re-opened
as
a
nightclub
for
a
limited
period.
Here
is
an
impassioned
please
from
Charlie
Gracie
junior
on
the
possible
future
demise
of
the
venue.
“I
was
greatly
distressed
to
hear
that
one
of
the
great
entertainment
venues
of
the
20th
century,
the
London
Hippodrome
might
be
shut
down
-
or
demolished
completely.
My
father
Charlie
Gracie,
the
first
solo
rock
‘n’
roll
star
(after
Bill
Haley’s
Comets)
to
bring
the
music
to
the
UK
(1957),
was
the
last
star
to
appear
at
the
venue
before
its
conversion
into
a
cabaret
house
(The
Talk
Of
The
Town)
in
1958.”
The
article
recalled:
“Charlie
Gracie
created
quite
a
stir
when
the
Grade
agency
booked
him
on
an
exclusive
tour
in
the
late
summer
and
fall
of
1957.
Dorothy
Squires,
your
‘Bette
Davis
of
Song’,
refused
to
take
second
billing
to
my
father
at
The
Hippodrome.
Claiming
she
‘had
never
heard
of
him’
and
the
fact
that
he
was
an
ambassador
of
this
‘new-fangled
rock
‘n’
roll
stuff),
didn’t
improve
her
opinion
of
him.
“However
all
this
created
a
big
publicity
circus
for
my
father
and
garnered
him
a
wealth
of
press
coverage.
He
was
a
smash
at
The
Hippodrome
and
later
in
the
provinces,
and
he
returned
for
another
extensive
tour
in
the
spring
of
1958.
Ms
Squires
later
apologised
and
they
met
at
some
other
venue.
This
is
such
fun
stuff
to
look
back
upon,
and
it
is
one
of
the
many
great
stories
surrounding
The
Hippodrome,
I’m
sure.”
Many
thanks
to
Charlie
for
sharing
this
with
us.
The
late
George
Harrison,
Cliff
Richard,
Van
Morrison
and
Graham
Nash
have
all
credited
Charlie
senior’s
singing
and
guitar
style
on
their
own
careers,
and
Sir
Paul
McCartney
covered
Charlie’s
Fabulous
in
1999.
For
further
information
about
Charlie’s
career
and
activities,
check
out
his
website
www.charliegracie.com.
Jean
Campbell
Glasgow-born
popular
singer
Jean
Campbell
died
in
2003
after
a
long
career
as
a
recording
artist
and
stage
performer.
Jean
recorded
many
songs
for
Embassy
Records,
the
Woolworth
low-price
label
(aah,
memories!),
covering
many
of
the
current
hits
of
the
day
such
as
Brenda
Lee’s
Sweet
Nuthins,
Connie
Francis’
Everybody’s
Somebody’s
Fool,
and
Helen
Shapiro’s
Don’t
Treat
Me
Like
A
Child
(Jean
was
34
at
the
time!).
Jean
also
sang
on
many
still-remembered
TV
commercials
including
for
Fairy
Liquid
(Hands
that
do
dishes
can
be
as
soft
as
your
face),
Beanz
Meanz
Heinz,
and
Keep
Going
Well,
Keep
Going
Shell.
Her
obituary
in
The
Independent
recalled
that
Jean
had
replaced
Pearl
Carr
as
the
female
vocalist
with
Cyril
Stapleton
and
his
Orchestra.
“Encouraged
by
the
singer
Dorothy
Squires,
Campbell
made
solo
recordings
for
Parophone,
although
she
often
found
herself
competing
against
major
artists
who
had
recorded
the
same
songs
such
as
Frankie
Laine
and
Pat
Boone.”
Many
thanks
to
Mark
Wallace
for
bringing
this
brief
item
to
the
website’s
attention.
Mark
Speight
The
late
children’s
TV
presenter
Mark
Speight
died
under
tragic
circumstances
in
April
2008.
Mark
Willerton
came
across
the
following
news
story:
“It’s nearly a year since the death of TV presenter Mark Speight, who committed suicide after not being able to cope with the death of his girlfriend Natasha Collins in January of 2008. Mark was a fan of Dorothy Squires and a friend stated in the Sunday Express soon after his death: “Mark had very eclectic tastes and he loved the Dorothy Squires song We Clowns, which had the lyric ‘We clowns who choose to entertain, with painted smiles that hide the pain’. He would often listen to that and it did get me thinking about why it seemed to resonate with him.”
Mark Willerton, official curator of the website for the late Lita Roza (www.litaroza.co.uk), who died in 2008, as well as for Kathy Kirby (www.KathyKirby.org.uk), with whom he is a close friend), and who also runs the fascinating Burtey Fenn Collection near Spalding in Lincolnshire, has kindly supplied these two cuttings from Lita’s own private collection. One picture shows Lita arriving with Dorothy at the High Court in London, when Dorothy was suing her former professional partner Billy Reid for permission to re-record some of the many songs that Reid had composed for her. Dorothy won the case and subsequently recorded the Dorothy Squires Sings Billy Reid album. The second picture shows Lita, Harry Secombe and Dorothy in party mood.
Avid
Records
has
released
The
Unforgettable
Pat
Kirkwood
(cat.
No.
Avid
Easy
AMSC
966,
price
£7.99)
and
it
will
be
of
interest
to
Dorothy
Squires
fans
as
it
features
several
recordings
that
featured
in
the
Fifties
film
Stars
In
Your
Eyes
in
which
the
late
Miss
Kirkwood
co-starred
with
Dorothy.
The
songs
are
I’d
Pick
Piccadilly,
Stars
In
My
Eyes
and
The
Man
That
Wakes
The
Man
That
Blows
Reveille.
This
excellent
set
has
been
compiled
by
the
renowned
music
archivist
Hugh
Palmer
and
the
extensive
line
notes
have
been
notated
by
the
highly
respected
author
and
newspaper
writer
Michael
Thornton.
Spanning
56
years,
from
the
leading
role
in
her
first
film
at
the
age
of
17,
to
her
final
stage
performance
in
1994
at
the
age
of
73,
this
historic
compilation
features
66
songs,
29
of
which
have
never
been
released
on
CD
before.
Sir Roger Moore’s autobiography My Word Is My Bond has been published by Michael O’Mara Books and, as one would expect, Dorothy who was married to the former Saint and James Bond star, and was very influential in helping his career during the Fifties, features extensively. Sir Roger writes about his marriage to Dorothy with considerable affection, despite the fact that it all ended so acrimoniously, with Dorothy refusing him a divorce for several years after their much-publicised break-up in 1961. The book includes one photo of the Moores arriving back in Britain from the United States around 1960. Interestingly his third wife Louisa is also featured just once photographically while his fourth and latest wife Kristina naturally takes top honours with five photos! Dorothy aside, My Word Is My Bond is a highly enjoyable read for Sir Roger’s many admirers, and underlines his reputation for being a thoroughly decent man (although his ex-wives would probably disagree!). Sir Roger promoted the book with press and TV interviews - frequently mentioning Dorothy - and he did several booking signings in Britain, as well as in the United States and Australia.
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Incidentally, Dorothy is mentioned briefly in composer Leslie Briccuse’s excellent and very entertaining 2006 memoirs The Music Man, published by Metro. Bricusse of course wrote several stage musicals with the late Anthony Newley, including Stop The World I Want To Get Off and The Roar Of The Greasepaint - The Smell Of The Crowd, as well as the music for the movie hit Doctor Doolittle and Scrooge, while his many hits include Who Can I Turn To?, What Kind Of Fool Am I?, Gonna Build A Mountain, Portrait Of My Love, Goldfinger, You And I (from Goodbye Mr. Chips) and so many more.
Recalling the first night of Stop The World In Want To Get Off at the Queen’s Theatre in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue in 1961, Bricusse recalls how nervous he was about the opening:
“The first 20 minutes of the opening night performance seemed to my cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof mind to be interminably dull and boring, and my heart stopped when four people in the middle of Row E got up and walked out, arguing volubly about what I assumed was their disgust with the show. I sank further into my seat, waiting for the rest of the audience to follow them. They didn’t, and three minutes later Newley brought the house down with Gonna Build A Mountain.”
A little later in the book, Bricusse remembers Roger Moore introducing his new Italian girlfriend Luisa Matteoli at Maxim’s restaurant. “Roger was still married to, but recently separated from, his second wife, a famous and tempestuous Welsh songstress called Dorothy Squires. Early in the evening, clearly wishing to get it off his chest, Roger confessed to me that it was one of his many contretemps with Madame Squires that had caused the precipitous departure of his party of four from Row E of the Queen’s Theatre on the first night of Stop The World for which he now wished to apologise profusely and hope that one day I would find it in my heart to forgive him profusely. I said I was glad he wasn’t a critic.”
Bricusse adds: “Luisa spoke hilarious Chico Marx English, was deliciously and paralysingly funny, and seemed likely to become a worthy successor to her Welsh forerunner in the tempestuous department.”
And later in his memoirs: “Back In Denham Roger Moore, after several arduous years of trying, had finally achieved his bitterly fought divorce with the Welsh singing star Dorothy Squires, and was now free to marry the lovely Luisa Matteoli which he promptly did, because the lovely Luisa would have killed him if he hadn’t.”
Finally the 2003 Anthony Newley biography Stop The World by Garth Bardsley (published by Oberon Books) briefly mentions Dorothy. Recalling Newley’s early years, Bardsley writes: “One evening, after a show in Newcastle, Newley was introduced to Ian Fraser who was on contract with Tony’s record label Decca. A classically trained pianist and phenomenally talented musician, Fraser had already recorded with Jess Conrad and Dorothy Squires as well as recording two albums of his own.”
Ian Fraser went on to working with Newley and Bricusse in particular for many years, and has arranged the scores for many top films and theatre shows. For the record, he arranged Dorothy’s July 1960 single This Place Called Home/Trust In Me on Decca Records
Gerri Smith reprised her excellent play-with-music The Dorothy Squires Story with two performances at the Arts Wing of Swansea Grand on February 18 2009. Once again, Gerri captured the essence of Dorothy’s dramatic lifestyle and also reprised several of the songs that Dorothy performed at her 1970 London Palladium comeback concert. Many of Dorothy’s fans were in attendance and Gerri’s rousing version of My Way brought many members of the audience to their feet. She was rewarded with armfuls of flowers including a bouquet from the ever-loyal John Lloyd who had travelled all the way from London.
Peter Jones was for many years the editor of the popular pop music magazine Record Mirror and got to know many of the big names of the Sixties and the early Seventies. Two of his particular favourites were Dorothy Squires and Dusty Springfield who he met and interviewed on many occasions. Peter first met Dorothy when she was performing in Portsmouth at the local Press Ball in the Fifties. Peter asked Dorothy if she would perform at a charity event to be held on the Clarence Pier in Southsea.
“Dorothy’s sister-in-law was of course Joyce Golding, who was also a very well known variety act, and she was married to Dorothy’s brother Fred Squires. The whole family used to stage and perform in pantomimes and variety shows, and Fred said that they were all coming down to perform at the charity event. I had to collect Dorothy on the day of the show and it was quite something to see how she got everybody organised!”
Peter recalls that Dorothy said that her boyfriend was coming down from London on the last train that same evening. “Apparently he was an up-and-coming actor. It turned out to be Roger Moore of course who was tall and extremely handsome and who ideally complemented Dorothy’s blonde and petite looks and charismatic personality. Roger had a very warm personality and when I subsequently met him at an amateur boxing tournament he invited me to one of the famous parties that he and Dorothy held at the Bexley mansion, and it was the first of many that I went to. It was amazing the famous people who would be there, not just variety artists but actors as well.
“Dorothy was always the perfect hostess and Roger was always very polite and courteous. Much later I frequently met Dorothy during my era with Record Mirror and she was always a great interview, providing good copy. When she released her first President album Say It With Flowers in 1968 I remember championing it in the magazine, and the following year of course she returned to the pop charts with For Once In My Life. It was great to see her making a professional comeback and the icing on the cake was the London Palladium concert in 1970. Dorothy remains to me one of the greatest female performers that this country has ever produced.”
Thanks for these memories Peter, who is pictured with Dorothy at the Portsmouth Press Ball.
PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORIES OF DOROTHY
© 2005 - 2012 www.dorothysquires.co.uk
