Helen Clare | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nelly Harrison |
| Born | (1916-11-29)29 November 1916 Bradford, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 15 September 2018(2018-09-15) (aged 101) London, England |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels | Rex,Decca,Regal Zonophone |
| Website | Helen Clare |
Helen Clare (bornNellyHarrison; 29 November 1916 – 15 September 2018) was a British singer who was well known in the 1930s and 1940s through her work in variety, radio, television and recording. Clare worked extensively inlight entertainment, appearing onBBC Radio and recording withBritish dance bands.[1] Her distinctive soprano voice saw her working with some of the biggest names of the era, including bandleadersJack Jackson andHenry Hall.[2] She was one of the last surviving British singers who had been active in the 1930s.
Nelly Harrison was born inBradford,Yorkshire, on 29 November 1916, during theFirst World War, and had an older brother, Tom.[3][4][5] Aged four, she moved to Australia with her family, who settled inBurswood, a suburb ofPerth.[3] She began performing in cinemas, often dressed to look likeBaby Peggy, a popular child star in Hollywood, and progressed to appearing in pantomimes in Perth, as well as Australia's major population centres ofMelbourne andSydney. Billed as "Little Nellie Harrison – Child Wonder", Harrison performed grand opera arias, such as the "Jewel Song" fromFaust forDame Nellie Melba, who she duetted with.[6]
Harrison's voice brought her to the attention of the critics and audiences, with Melba remarking, "this voice must be preserved and not be used for years to come".[1] A 1926Sydney Opera House production ofAladdin was reviewed byThe Sydney Morning Herald, in which it was noted that Harrison won applause from the audience. Harrison, "a diminutive child-prodigy, sang fluently and correctly, with shades and roulades, all in a tiny voice, the valse-air fromEdward German's comic operaTom Jones", the review added.[7]
Following theWall Street crash in 1929, and the subsequentGreat Depression, Harrison and her family returned to Yorkshire, living inShipley, outside Bradford. After leaving school, she worked as a costing clerk in a raincoat factory, but sang in clubs during the evenings. She also appeared with her brother Tom Harrison's band in Bradford. "Unlike their usual singer, I didn't need amegaphone", she said.[6]
Harrison began getting bookings in theNorth of England, and, having been offered an audition byEric Maschwitz, the then-Head of BBC Variety, she started to broadcast for theBBC North region in 1934.[3] In the mid-1930s, Harrison joined Conri Tait's Orchestra, who appeared at the Grand Hotel inHarrogate.[1]
By 1936, she was broadcasting under herstage name, Helen Clare, which she would be billed as this from this point on.[8] In February 1937, she began broadcasting throughout Britain on theBBC National Programme withJack Jackson's band, who were resident at theDorchester Hotel inLondon.[9] Jackson had spotted her the previous year, and Clare became a household name, taking bookings from theRadio Normandie, Lyon andLuxembourg stations.[6] Whilst there, she was befriended by a youngDanny Kaye, who was appearing in cabaret at the hotel. Clare began appearing onBBC Television when the medium was still in its infancy, becoming one of the first female singers to appear on the small screen in 1937.[6]
That year, she sangGeorge andIra Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away From Me" inCabaret Cartoons, a television programme produced byCecil Madden. On 22 June that year, she made her recording debut at aRex session withJay Wilbur and his Band, when Clare sang a duet with Jack Cooper, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", which had been introduced byFred Astaire andGinger Rogers in the filmShall We Dance.[10] She made several more recordings with Wilbur's band, and also broadcast with him.[1]
On 26 November 1937, she made her first recording with Jack Jackson and his Orchestra at aDecca session in which she sang "I'm a Little Prairie Flower" as part of a vocal ensemble with Jackson, Jackie Hunter and Jack Cooper. In December 1937, thePopular Music and Film Song Weekly wrote of Clare:
"…there are relatively few dance-band crooners who possess what the professors would describe as a 'real voice'. Pretty Helen Clare, however is one of the very few. Maybe you can detect the 'quality' when you hear her on the air with Jack Jackson from the Dorchester."[1]
She also recorded three duets with Jackson – one of the most prominent bandleaders of the era – for his orchestra in January and May the following year.[11] In addition, she appeared on television with him until 1939.[1]
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Clare was asked to join the BBC Variety department inBristol, where they had evacuated to, and were forming a variety company. Clare remarked that "It was hard work to begin with, we were just one little company and had to dash from one studio to another but the company was lovely, people you'd worked with for years and we were all together and doing our bit". She worked with stars such asFlanagan and Allen,Tommy Trinder andLeslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson, appearing regularly on BBC Radio. She broadcast with the BBC's in-house orchestras and those led by such notable bandleaders asCarroll Gibbons,Henry Hall,Billy Ternent andJack Hylton.[1]
It was thought that Bristol would be safer than London, but this was proven wrong when the city sufferedair raids in November 1940 and into 1941. The BBC Variety department consequently moved even further from London, this time toBangor inNorth Wales. She became a freelance singer in 1941, and toured Britain's variety theatres. She also gave concerts for the troops at factories, naval stations, army bases and factories.[1] In June 1941, she recorded a cover of "Beneath The Lights of Home (In A Little Old Sleepy Town)", fromDeanna Durbin's filmNice Girl? as the vocalist on The Organ, The Dance Band and Me, a group led byBilly Thorburn. Two years later, with Thorburn's band, she recorded "Say A Pray'r for the Boys Over There", anOscar-nominated song from Durbin's filmHers to Hold, and "Comin' In on a Wing and a Pray'r", both wartime-themed songs.[10]
Offered the chance to work with bandleaderJack Payne, she broadcast with him for theEntertainments National Service Association (ENSA), singing songs such as "I'll Walk Beside You", a popular hit during the war. She also appeared in BBC programmes such asMusic While You Work,Calling Forces Gibraltar andWorkers' Playtime singing requests for the troops and their loved ones. Clare hostedIt's All Yours from 1942 to 1944, in which she read out messages and performed songs sent in by children with relatives in theAllied forces. It was in this programme that the 9-year oldPetula Clark made her broadcasting debut, later described by Clare as "this lovely little thing".[3][12]
In early 1944, she recorded vocals at three sessions withHarry Leader and his Band forRegal Zonophone, who were based at theAstoria Ballroom in London. In addition to ENSA, Clare also performed for the Overseas Recorded Broadcasting Service, which made radio programmes for British forces stationed abroad.[13] One of her favourite songs wasJerome Kern's "All the Things You Are", which she often sang on the BBC, notably with theAllied Expeditionary Force band in April 1945. Commenting on this, she said, "When I sang I was part of that song, and the songs then spoke of so many sentiments, and they tell a story".[1]
Following the end of the war in Britain, Clare continued to work invariety andlight music. The latter includedoperetta, in which she would be accompanied by orchestras led bySidney Torch andGeorge Melachrino. She continued to broadcast on popular radio shows such asVariety Bandbox andPalace of Varieties. In 1957,Friday Night Is Music Night, which had begun on theBBC Light Programme in 1953, featured Clare, accompanied by theBBC Concert Orchestra.[1]
Clare continued performing professionally and appearing in broadcasts until the 1960s, when she had a mild heart attack. However, she gave singing lessons for the next thirty years, and, until the age of 90, was active in the Wallington Operatic Society.[3]
In May 2015, aged 98, she was interviewed byPam Rhodes forSongs of Praise onBBC One, in a programme marking the 70th anniversary ofVE Day.[14] In 2016, at the age of 99, Clare was reunited on live television withPetula Clark, whom she had worked with during the war on BBC Radio'sIt's All Yours. They appeared together onBBC One'sThe One Show.[15] Clare was taken to theGrosvenor House Hotel for a celebration of her100th birthday, in a visit featured onHolding Back the Years, a BBC One programme hosted byAinsley Harriott. Joined by her daughter, granddaughter and great-grandchildren, she was serenaded byAlex Mendham and His Orchestra.[16][17]
In 2018, the first album of Clare's recordings was released,All The Things You Are.[1] Asked for the secrets to a long life, Clare said "There isn't a secret. You just have to be interested in things, in what's happening in the world. And keep your sense of enjoyment going."[6]
In 1939, following the start of the Second World War, Clare lived at 88 Maida Vale (later aGrade II listed building) in thearea of the same name, then part of theMetropolitan Borough of St Marylebone, west London.[18] She married musicianFrederick Riddle inKensington in 1946, who was later awarded anOBE, and described as "one of the most eminent viola players of his time".[19] The couple had met atBBC Bristol whilst he was in theBBC Salon Orchestra, and were together for over forty years.[20] They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was said to have inherited her mother's vocal talents. Riddle died in 1995; Clare received her 100th birthday card fromQueen Elizabeth II addressed to her married name, Mrs Helen Riddle.[21]
Clare lived inWallington, inSutton, south London from 1952 to 1987, when she moved to theIsle of Wight, where her husband died. She returned to live inCarshalton, Sutton, in 1995, where she remained until 2011. Clare later moved into sheltered accommodation in Wallington, and died on 15 September 2018, aged 101.[22][1][23] She was survived by her daughter, granddaughter and three great-grandchildren.[3][22]