Born in her parents'
carnival caravan in
Pontyberem (about 12 miles from
Llanelli),
Carmarthenshire, Wales, to a steelworker, Archibald James Squires, and his wife, Emily, she wanted a piano as a child. Her mother bought her a
ukulele. While working in a
tin plate factory, she began to perform professionally as a singer at the age of 16 in the working men's club of Pontyberem.
Career While working as a nurse in London, Squires sought singing jobs; she met agent Joe Kay, who got her night time work in various clubs. Squires performed at an
East End club that gave her the name Dorothy, which she liked and adopted as her stage name. Squires did most of her work with the orchestra of
Billy Reid, who was her partner for many years. After she joined his orchestra in 1936, he began to write songs for her to perform.
Billy Reid After
World War II, she worked on the BBC radio show
Variety Bandbox, which led to her becoming the highest paid female singer in the UK at the time. Squires and Reid bought a 16-bedroom house in
Bexhill on Sea, and the two
recorded the original version of Reid's composition, "
A Tree in the Meadow". Her version of another Reid-penned song, "
I'm Walking Behind You", was a UK chart hit for Squires
Roger Moore Squires met the actor
Roger Moore at one of her parties at her mansion in
Old Bexley, Kent. Moore, who was 12 years her junior, later became her husband when they married in
New Jersey on 6 July 1953. She introduced him to various people in the Hollywood film industry. As his career took off, hers started to slide. Their marriage lasted until 1961, when Moore left her. Returning to the UK, Squires had a career revival in the late 1960s at the age of 55 with a set of three singles that made the
UK Singles Chart, including a cover of "
My Way". In 1973, she was charged with high kicking a taxi driver who tried to throw her out of his cab. She was also one of several artists charged with bribing a BBC radio producer as part of a scheme to make him play her records; the case was dropped. In 1974, her
Bexley mansion burned down, from which she escaped with her dog and all her love letters from Roger Moore. She then moved into a house in
Bray next to the
River Thames, which flooded three weeks later. By 1982, she had been banned from the
High Court, having spent much of her fortune on legal fees. Her numerous lawsuits caused the High Court on 5 March 1987 to declare her a "
vexatious litigant", preventing her from commencing any further legal actions without the permission of the Court. In 1988, following
bankruptcy proceedings, she lost her home in Bray, to which she returned the following night to recover her love letters from Moore. Her last concert was in 1990, to pay her
Community Charge. Squires was provided with a home in
Trebanog,
Rhondda, South Wales, by a fan, Esme Coles. Squires retired there becoming a
recluse, and died in 1998 of
lung cancer, aged 83, at
Llwynypia Hospital, Rhondda. Her remains are interred in a family plot in
Streatham Park Cemetery, south London. ==Legacy==