Who is gracie fields

In , she became seriously ill with cervical cancer. The public sent over , goodwill messages and she retired to her villa on Capri. After she recovered, she recorded a very special 78rpm record simply called Gracie's Thanks , in which she thanks the public for the many cards and letters she received while in hospital. Fields also helped Rochdale F. In she set up the Gracie Fields Children's Home and Orphanage at Peacehaven, Sussex for children of those in the theatre profession who could not look after their children.

She kept this until , when the home was no longer needed. This was near her own home in Peacehaven, and Fields often visited, with the children all calling her 'Aunty Grace'. World War II was declared while she was recovering in Capri, and Fields - still very ill after her cancer surgery, threw herself into her work and signed up for ENSA headed by her old film producer, Basil Dean.

Fields travelled to France to entertain the troops in the midst of air-raids, performing on the backs of open lorries and in war-torn areas. She was the first artist to play behind enemy lines in Berlin. 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, at the instruction of Winston Churchill, who told her to "Make American Dollars, not British Pounds," which she did, in aid of the Navy League and the Spitfire Fund.

She and Banks moved to their home in Santa Monica, California. She did, occasionally, return to Britain, to show she was not, indeed, a traitor, performing in factories and army camps around the country. After their initial argument, Parliament offered her an official apology. She is mentioned several times in Spike Milligan's war memoirs during the years to with both respect and appreciation for her personability and her wartime efforts, as well as affectionate criticism of her comedy and performance style.

Although she continued to spend much of her time entertaining troops and otherwise supporting the war effort outside Britain, this, inevitably, led to a fall-off in her popularity at home. She performed many times for Allied troops, travelling as far as New Guinea, where she received an enthusiastic response from Australian personnel.

Late saw her tour the South Pacific Islands. After the war, Fields continued her career less actively. She began performing in Britain again in headlining the London Palladium over Eartha Kitt who was also on the bill.

The BBC gave her her own radio show in dubbed Our Gracie's Working Party in which 12 towns were visited by Fields, and a live show of music and entertainment was broadcast weekly with Fields compering and performing, and local talents also on the bill.

This tour commenced in Rochdale. Billy Ternent and his Orchestra accompanied her. In , Fields opened the Festival of Britain celebrations.

She proved popular once more, though never regaining the status she enjoyed in the s. She continued recording, but made no more films, moving more towards light classical music as popular tastes changed, often adopting a religious theme.

She continued into the new medium of LP records, and recorded new takes of her old favourite songs, as well as new and recent tracks to 'liven things up a bit'. Monty Banks died in of a heart attack while travelling on the Orient Express. Filmography by Job Trailers and Videos. Share this page:.

The Rise of Will Smith. Around The Web Provided by Taboola. Create a list ». Female singers who entertained. Top 20 Performances of Box-Office Stars of international. Box-Office Stars of female. See all related lists ». Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDb page. Find out more at IMDbPro ». How Much Have You Seen? How much of Gracie Fields's work have you seen? Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

See more awards ». Known For. Holy Matrimony Alice Chalice. Shipyard Sally Sally Fitzgerald. Look Up and Laugh Gracie Pearson. Show all Hide all Show by Hide Show Actress 23 credits. The image is the property of Billie David and shown here with the permission of Bill Hanks. During World War II she toured extensively, entertaining troops. Arthur Askey who accommpanied her on some of these tours said, "My God she worked. Often when I'd had enough and they said, 'There's a bit of an isolated camp down the road,' she'd go.

Twenty, thirty miles, she could be tired out, but she'd climb in the lorry or jeep or whatever transport was taking her, and when she got on the stage, no matter how rough and improvised it might be, she seemed to shed that tiredness and become a different person. After the War she was welcomed back to the UK and featured in a series of morale-building radio shows, Gracie's Working Party.

In she had bought a villa on the Isle of Capri with the money from her film successes, and during the 50s she went into semi-retirement there with her third husband, Boris Alperovic, emerging only for the occasional concert or record date. In Gracie returned to Rochdale for the last time to open a new seat theatre named after her. She told the audience that "At eighty it's wonderful having a theatre named after you - as long as I don't have to come back tomorrow to clean it.

In February, , she was back in England to receive another honour. The girl from Rochdale was created Dame Gracie. Gracie Fields If you were set the task of drawing up a top ten list of important people who were born or lived in Rochdale, it might be difficult to decide which one was the most influential, the one who made the greatest and most important contribution to the development of society. The Stansfield sisters - the image above is the property of Billie David and shown here with the permission of Bill Hanks Gracie's audience increased enormously in when she made her first film "Sally In Our Alley" and the title song soon became Gracie's signature tune.

Close Window.