ENTERTAINERS

Dora Bryan
7 Feb 1924, Oldham
 
 The irrepressible Dora Bryan has been in show business for 66 years. She has worked in just about every area of the entertainment business including pantomime, sitcom, revue, musical comedy and drama and at the age of 78 she is still going strong.
Dora made her stage debut at Manchesterís Palace Theatre and at the age of 14 joined Oldham Repertory Theatre. She left six years later as their leading lady. Although her early training was as a straight actress Dora is probably best known as a musical star and comedy actress. In Londonís West End she starred in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and took over from Mary Martin in Hello, Dolly! She also wowed the critics in Harold Pinterís The Birthday Party and Noel Cowardís Blithe Spirit and more recently toured in Alan Bennettís Talking Heads.
In 1961 she won a Bafta for her role as the mother in A Taste of Honey and she has been named best actress in She Stoops To Conquer at the Olivier Awards. A regular in Last of the Summer Wine, she has also twice been the subject of This Is Your Life and twice the castaway in Desert Island Discs!
Dora's connections with Brighton go back many years. Together with her husband, Bill, she has lived at Clarges Hotel on Brighton seafront for 20 years, at one time owning the whole 60-bedroom prop-erty. They still live in one of the flats from which Dora continues to perform in the West End, most recently in The Full Monty, and involve herself with local campaigns.

Dame Gracie Fields MBE
9 Jan 1898, Rochdale
 
A successful singer and actress, Gracie Fields was pushed into theatre by her ambitious mother at a very early age and landed her first big role as Sally Perkins in the 1918 production of Mr Tower of London. The show ran for seven years.
Her recording career started in 1928 and encompassed comic tunes such as Fred Fannakapan, spirited songs such as Sing As We Go as well as ballads such as La Vie En Rose and Ave Maria, all delivered in her unique soprano.
In 1931 she made her film debut in Sally in Our Alley. The filmís famous theme song, Sally, became hers too, but she grew to dislike it in later years. By 1937 she was the highest paid film star in the world and had achieved the height of her popularity.
She was married three times and met her second husband, Monty Banks, at Peacehaven where she had a house. She turned another property that she owned in this seaside village just outside Brighton into an orphanage and she continued her charitable work for it throughout her life.

Terry Garoghan
4 Sep 1954, Brighton
 
 Terry Garoghan first achieved national fame as one half of the Brighton Bottle Orchestra. Playing their own brand of music by blowing across the tops of bottles, the BBO featured in the Guinness Book of Records and twice performed before Her Majesty the Queen.
In 2002, Terry received the highest broadcasting accolade, the Sony Gold Award for Entertainment, for his Southern FM radio show, The Last Bus to Whitehawk. His one-man show, Brighton the Musical, was first staged in 1996 and is a unique and affectionate tribute to the place where he has lived all his life.

Carol Kaye
12 Apr 1930, Oldham
 
 Carol Kaye is one of the three legendary Kaye sisters. This singing trio had hits in the í50s and í60s including Paper Roses and Mistakes and featured in Royal Command Performances on three occasions.
Carol has appeared on stage and television in productions as diverse as Hedda Gabler, Heartbeat and Coronation Street and in panto several times including the role of comedy fairy in Cinderella at the Theatre Royal Brighton.
She has lived and brought up her family in Hove and in recent years teamed up with Dora Bryan (see page 39) to raise funds for the Dome Mission in Brighton. The project will provide shelter, accommodation and advice for the elderly and needy from the local community.

Mark Little
20 Oct 1959, Australia
 
Mark Little is an actor and comedian who moved from Melbourne to Hove in 1993. He is best known in Britain as Joe Mangel from Neighbours but has since gone on to success in film and theatre.
He presented Channel 4ís The Big Breakfast for two years and regularly contributes to the holiday programme Wish You Were Here.
His West End one-man show, Defending the Caveman, has toured Britain to sell out audiences and won Mark an Olivier award. He performs self-devised shows all over the country and is a regular on the Fringe at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival. In 2001 Mark toured a new show Mark Little is a Whinging POHM (Prisoner of Her Majesty) which celebrates his convict heritage and his life in the south of England.
Mark has appeared in 11 films, including three independent Brighton productions, and is a champion of local fringe activity. Married to Cathy, collaborator as well as partner, together they set up the Extreme Hove Theatre Company. They have two sons, Angus and Jasper.

Dame Vera Lynn OBE
20 Mar 1917, London
 
 Vera Lynn is a legendary singer who won the hearts of the British public for her work in entertaining the British forces during the Second World War.
Sentimental classics such as Weíll Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover are synonymous with both Vera and the war, and her voice is often used in stage and television productions to evoke the atmosphere of the 1940s.
She was a highly successful recording artist and variety performer, and enjoyed Top 30 hits in the US and the UK from the 1940s to the 1960s. She also starred in Londonís West End in revue shows such as Applesauce (1941) with Walk of Fame comedian Max Miller and London Laughs (1952-54).
Vera Lynn has lived in the village of Ditchling, just north of Brighton, for many years. Her family was brought up there and she is involved in the community, raising money for local charities.

IMax Miller
21 Nov 1894, Brighton
 
 Born and bred in Brighton, Max Miller became Britainís top comedian for the 1930s, í40s and í50s, starring in Londonís West End and in 14 feature films. He was brash, quick-witted, and became known as the Cheeky Chappie.
He first started entertaining as a song and dance man on Brighton seafront where he also got the opportunity to tell an occasional joke. A few bookings in London followed and he was soon writing his own material and excelling as a solo performer.
Miller was famous for his ability to hold an audience spell-bound as they waited to see if he would go too far with his risquÈ jokes and double entendres. He always appeared on stage in a flower-patterned suit, plus fours, co-respondent shoes and a trilby while the orchestra played his most famous song and signature tune Mary from the Dairy. His recording career lasted 30 years and although he was regularly banned by the BBC for his blue material he was still heard on the national airwaves.
Yet throughout his life Max Miller remained unimpressed by the razzmatazz of his profession and returned home to Brighton whenever he could. He came from a humble background and felt comfortable with ordinary people from his home town saying once, ëI much prefer a retired bus driver to anybody in show business.

Norman Wisdom
4 Feb 1915, London
 
 Norman Wisdom has been a star of theatre, comedy, film, radio, cabaret and television, for over 40 years. A Londoner born and bred he made his entertainment debut at the relatively advanced age of 31. His first starring role was in Paris to Piccadilly at the Prince of Wales Theatre. The show ran for 18 months and by the time it ended Norman Wisdom had been offered a contract by the Rank Organisation.
His first film for Rank, Trouble in Store, won him a Bafta and he turned out film performances at the rate of one a year until the end of the 1960s.
His TV appearances include The Norman Wisdom Show and Wit and Wisdom. He also starred in the 1961 Sunday Night At The London Palladium in a now-famous sketch with Bruce Forsyth. No less than eight Royal Variety Shows have featured this diminutive comedy legend.
A director of Brighton & Hove Albion from 1964-70, Norman Wisdom lived in Sussex for several years.

Julian Clary

After a stint as a singing telegram and a drag act called Gillian Pie-Face, Julian Clary honed his skills in comedy and cosmetics and shot to fame as the Joan Collins Fan Club, co-starring the inimitable Fanny the Wonderdog back in the 1980's. His outrageous double entendres and perfect pout made him a national favourite and he has been a star of stage and screen ever since, in demand as compere, comedian and actor. He has recently appeared in Boy George's musical, Taboo, and is now in panto as Dandini in Cinderella at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Julian, who has a home in Brighton, says: "I am genuinely thrilled. I think it's always more impressive to be voted for by the public than by a panel. I

Katie Price

Since starting the Walk of Fame I have been constantly amazed with the amount of famous people associated with the city. Many have settled here to make this unique place their home but what has really given me great reward is to have been able to create an accolade in the form of the Walk of Fame which recognises those born here who have made great achievements in their respective careers. Katie Price is one of those and has without question become one of the UK's top celebrities. Unbeknown to most Katie has contributed greatly to help certain charitable organisations