gracie fields

Early life

Born over a fish and chip shop owned by her grandmother in Rochdale, then in Lancashire, she made her first stage appearance as a child in 1905. Her two sisters and brother all went on to appear on stage, but Fields was the most successful. Her professional debut in variety took place at the Rochdale Hippodrome theatre in 1910 and she soon gave up her job in the local mill.

She met comedian Archie Pitt and they began working together. Pitt would come to serve as her manager and the two married in 1923. Their first revue in 1915 was called Yes I think so and the two continued to tour Britain together until 1922 in the revue Mr Tower of London.

Fame

Fields came to major public notice when Mr Tower of London came to the West End. Her career rapidly accelerated from this point with straight dramatic performances and the beginning of a recording career.

One of her most successful productions was at the Alhambra Theatre in 1925. The show, booked by Sir Oswald Stoll, was a major success and toured for ten years. She made the first of ten appearances in Royal Variety Performances in 1928, gaining a devoted following with a mixture of self-deprecating jokes, comic songs and monologues, as well as cheerful "depression-era" songs all presented in a "no-airs-and-graces" northern, working class style. Fields had a great rapport with her audience, which helped her become one of Britain's highest paid performers, playing to sold out theatres across the country.

Her most famous song, which became her theme, Sally, was worked into the title of her first cinema film, Sally in Our Alley (1931), which was a major box office hit. She went on to make several films initially in Britain and later in the United States (for which she was paid a record fee of US$200,000 for four films), despite never enjoying the process of performing without a live audience.

Charity work

The late 30s saw her popularity peak and she was given many honours: the Order of Officer Sister of St. John of Jerusalem (for charity work), the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) (for services to entertainment) in 1938, and the freedom of the borough of Rochdale.

She donated her exclusive house, "The Towers" in London's The Bishop's Avenue, which she had not much cared for and which she had shared with her husband Archie Pitt, to a Maternity Hospital after the marriage broke down. In 1939, however, she became seriously ill with cervical cancer. The public sent over 250,000 goodwill messages and she retired to her villa in Capri to recover.

World War II

World War II was declared whilst she was recovering and Fields travelled to France to entertain the troops. In 1940 she married film director Monty Banks, following her divorce from Pitt. However because Banks remained an Italian citizen and would have been interned in the United Kingdom, she was forced to leave Britain for North America during the war. Although she continued to spend much of her time entertaining troops and otherwise supporting the war effort outside Britain, this led to a fall-off in her popularity at home where she was portrayed by the press as a traitor and deserter. Nevetherless, she performed many times for Allied troops, travelling as far as the islands of New Guinea, where she received an enthusiastic response from Australian personnel.[1]

Post-war

After the war, Fields continued her career on a less active basis. She began performing in Britain again in 1948 and starred at the Festival of Britain celebrations. She proved popular once more, without ever regaining the status she achieved in the 1930s. She continued recording, but made no more films, moving more towards light classical music as popular tastes changed.

She did a great deal of charity work, and established a permanent home on Capri in Italy. Monty Banks died in 1950. Fields was married again, to Boris Alperovici, two years later. After then she began to work even less but still sold out theatres even into her seventies.

In 1978, she opened the Gracie Fields Theatre in Rochdale. She made a final appearance at the Royal Variety Show at the age of eighty, her last performance. The following year she was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) not long before her death at her home in Capri, aged 81.

Famous Songs

• Sally
• Sing as We Go
• Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye
• Thing-Ummy-Bob (That's Gonna Win The War)^[1]
• The Biggest Aspidistra in the World
• Only a Glass of Champagne
• Christopher Robin is Saying His Prayers
• Angels Guard Thee
• Nuns Chorus
• Now Is the Hour
• The Isle of Capri

Filmography

• 1931 Sally in our Alley
• 1932 Looking on the Bright Side
• 1933 This Week of Grace
• 1933 Love, Life and Laughter
• 1934 Sing as We Go
• 1935 Look Up and Laugh
• 1936 Queen of Hearts
• 1937 The Show Goes On
• 1938 We're Going to Be Rich
• 1938 Keep Smiling
• 1939 Shipyard Sally
• 1943 Stage Door Canteen
• 1943 Holy Matrimony
• 1945 Molly and Me
• 1945 Paris Underground