Shirley (41 page)

There have been no major books written about the life of Shirley Bassey. I relied upon interviews with people who knew and admired her before she became the international star that she is. Sometimes I was helped by the kindness of strangers, for instance the waitress at the Cardiff hotel who was also from Tiger Bay and lent me a book about her birthplace:
The Tiger Bay Story
by Neil M. G. Sinclair, (published by the Butetown History and Arts Projects, 1993); and also Ifor Harry, Shirley’s next-door neighbour when the Basseys lived in Splott. From these and many others I was able to build up a picture of Shirley’s young life.

Her steps to fame were helped by Michael Sullivan who included a chapter on Shirley in his book,
There’s No People Like Show People
, Quadrant Books, 1984. Through Sylvia, the wife of Sullivan’s partner, Berry I learned more about Shirley’s personality; Sylvia was always a great champion of Shirley. People who worked alongside Shirley in show
business helped me understand the great pressures of public life. It wasn’t hard to find people who knew Shirley.

I offer thanks and acknowledgement to the following newspapers:
The Empire News, The Sunday Chronicle, The News Chronicle, The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror, The Daily Express, The Sunday Express, The Sunday People, The Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Times, The Sunday Times, The News of the World, The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, The Independent, The Cardiff Echo, The Cardiff Post, The South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday, Cardiff and South Wales Times, The Argus, The Western Mail, Hello
magazine,
Ask
magazine, the
Radio Times, TV Times, The Sydney Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph
(Sydney),
The Melbourne Herald & Sun, The Las Vegas Sun, Ebony
, After Dark (USA); and finally the Shirley Bassey Collector’s Club, New Jersey.

Picture credits

The plates in this book emanate from the following sources, to whom the author and publishers gratefully offer acknowledgement: Solo Syndication Limited/
Daily Mail
; P.A. News; Mirror Syndication International; Western Mail and Echo Limited and Redferns Music Picture Library. Also, the private collections of Sylvia Beresford Clarke, Michael Sullivan, Bernard Hall, Wyn Calvin and the author’s own collection.

The author and publishers have made all reasonable efforts to contact copyright holders for permission, and apologize for any omissions or errors in the form of credit given. Corrections may be made in future printings.

I would like to thank Bernard Hall most of all for giving me his reminicences about the years when he knew Shirley Bassey. He walked into my life, drank my whisky and told me about Marlene Dietrich, then he stayed on to tell me about Shirley. We had a very good friendship and I still miss him.

I would like to thank the people from Tiger Bay and Cardiff for their kindness and help in the writing of this book. They include, Bryn Jones, Neil Sinclair, Wyn Calvin, Louise Benjamin, Iris Freeman, Isabella Freeman, Olwen Watkins, Mr Wesley, Ifor Harry, Bill Barrett, Brian J. Lee, Annis Abraham and Jeanette Cockley.

And then, Emile Ilchuck from Pennsylvania, Brigit McCoppin from Melbourne, Sylvia Beresford Clarke, Kenny Clayton, Silvio Narizzano, Barbara Tieman, Rose Neighbour, Linda Scott, Paula Loveridge, and the staff of Dorking Library.

Finally I would like to thank my editor, Liz Rowlinson.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Epub ISBN: 9781448185429

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Copyright © Muriel Burgess 1998

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First published in the United Kingdom in 1998 by Century,

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ISBN 9780099277965