Web Page  No 2136

1^st March 2015

First of all we had a great get together at The George last Friday. There were 17 of us there covering about six school years. Unfortunately Peter Sexton could not make it because his wife was ill but the general consensus was that we do it again in late summer. Pictures to follow soon I hope.

Peter

Now for this weeks page

Top Picture: At the London Palladium with Joan Regan, Dick Emery Audrey Jeans and Frankie Vaughan

Middle Picture: One of Audrey’s recordings

Lower Picture: With Frankie Vaughan

 Bottom Picture: With Jimmy Edwards in Old King Cole.

Just realised I am now 69 I really am getting old!!!

RIP

Sad to say that Nelson Trowbridge died at the back end of last month.

Audrey Jeans

Audrey Jeans was the Portsmouth girl who made good but tragically had her life cut short before she reached the really big time.

She was Portsmouth born and bred as were her parents before her. She was the daughter of a Portsmouth Dockyard Worker who was born 1929 as Audrey Jennings at Riga Terrace in Landport.

Audrey made her mark as a young comediennes wearing smart clothes and evening dresses when at the time the hit comedians were in the style of Hylda Baker. Audrey was an attractive, beautifully dressed woman who could dance, sing, act, deliver one-liners and get laughs. But she was destined to never reach her full potential.

She showed talent from a child and she began her career aged just sixteen, as part of the chorus in a revue. The revue was Piccadilly Hayride with Sid Fields and with encouragement from him she worked at comedy. She moved on and was picked to tour Australia with Arthur Askey but on her return to England the offers of work did not come. She realised that she had to live but as no work came her way she forsook the theatrical life and began work behind the counter of a friend's shop in Portsmouth.

The theatrical agent Keith Devon remembered her and persuaded her to go back into the entertainment business and, with his guidance, she became a good middle of the bill act and developed a talent for being a feed for the comics of the day. With this newly deb, playing her Variety developed act she started appearing all over the UK and then branched out into international entertainment.

She was a stalwart in the Summer Season circuit and was always in demand for Pantomime. One such was Cinderella in Birmingham in 1961 where she starred with Lonnie Donegan. She appeared alongside Joan Regan, Dick Emery and Frankie Vaughan in the London Palladium. She also appeared with Jimmy Edwards in Oxford in the Pantomime Old King Cole where Jimmy Edwards played the title role. It was a very cold winter with coal shortages and burst pipes but as the Oxford Mail put it:- But there was plenty of Christmas cheer. Comedian Jimmy Edwards, with his trademark handlebar moustache, was in schoolmasterly mode as the star of the New Theatre pantomime as Merry King Cole with Audrey Jeans as Queen Coke. In 1973 she was with Jimmy Tarbuck at the Wimbledon Theatre in Jack and the Beanstalk and in the following year she was in the same panto but with Ken Goodwin and Frank Ifield in the Theatre Royal Nottingham.

Summer Season was always a mainstay of entertainers and Audrey was part of this travelling troupe. In 1971 she appeared at the Princess Theatre, Torquay with Bruce Forsyth and Keith Harris. She also appeared with Sid James in The Mating Game at the Winter Gardens Blackpool in 1975. A varied and promising career.

Audrey was married twice and, tragically, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while on her second honeymoon. She was hit by a car while crossing a road in Paris. She and her second husband were returning to their accommodation after dinner. Audrey was killed. Her husband was seriously injured, but recovered. The year was 1979.

Contemporary reports say that she had a wonderful sense of humour, was intelligent, warm, vivacious, generous and practical.

Her TV appearances included The Witches Brew, Jokers Wild, The Good Old Days, Comedy Band Box, Thank Your Lucky Stars and even the Six-Five Special.

Audrey was obviously destined for great things in the future but it was not to be. However I have recently read an article by one of her granddaughters who never met her Grandmother but is obviously very proud of her achievements and is very grateful that Audrey is still remembered thirty five years after her death.

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

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News and Views:

On this day 1st March 1960-1965

On 01/03/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was Some Like It Hot. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/05/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 05/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 05/03/1963 the number one single was The Wayward Wind - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/03/1964 the number one single was Anyone Who Had a Heart -Cilla Black and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story was British troops keep peace in Cyprus.

On 01/06/1965 the number one single was Long Live Love - Sandie Shaw and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.