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Vera Lynn
Born
- March 20, 1917
- London, England
Real Name
- Vera Margaret Welch
Marriage
- Harry Lewis (1939)
Vera Lynn
- BIOGRAPHY
- FILMOGRAPHY
- REVIEWS
Popular British singer Vera Lynn is best remembered for her WWII recordings. Born in London's East End in 1917, she began her singing career at the age of seven, performing in local clubs. At age eleven she joined a child dance troupe, Madame Harris' Kracker Cabaret Kids, and at fifteen became a vocalist with Howard Baker's orchestra.
Vera made her first radio broadcast with the Joe Loss Orchestra in 1935 and was hired that same year as a vocalist by Charlie Kunz. She also made her first recordings in 1935, both with Kunz and anonymously for the Crown label (a Woolworth's label). She joined with Ambrose's orchestra in 1937 and remained with them almost exclusively until 1941. In 1939 she married Ambrose clarinet and tenor sax player Harry Lewis, who also became her manager.
Vera became the most popular British singer during the war, hosting a BBC radio program, Sincerely Yours. Her morale-building ballads were extremely popular with servicemen. She appeared in an armed forces stage revue and toured Burma in 1944. She also made three wartime films.
After the war ended Vera retired, only to return to show business in 1947, touring and hosting a new radio program. Her record label, Decca, promoted her in the U.S. during the musicians' strike of 1948 and she garnered a U.S. Top Ten hit with ''You Can't Be True, Dear.'' She became the first British artist to hit number one on the U.S. charts with ''Auf Wiedersehn, Sweetheart'' in 1952. In 1954 she scored her first and only British number one with ''My Son, My Son.''
Vera continued performing through the 1970s, cutting back on public appearances during the 1980s. In 1976 she was made Dame Vera Lynn.