Jill Summers

Summers was born in Eccles, Lancashire, one of four sisters and a brother, to father Alf Rozelle, a circus tightrope walker, and mother Mary Fuller (stage name Marie Santoi), a famous revue artist. Born into a theatrical family, her grandmother was a well-known bare-back rider, and her uncle, Johnny Fuller, known as "The Famous Cat", frequently acted alongside Fay Compton in the pantomime Dick Whittington. == Career ==

She first performed on stage aged six. Her childhood was mostly unhappy, with her touring parents often leaving her with foster families. When Summers was 13, her mother died, and she went to work in a cotton mill. Summers formed a musical comedy double act with her half-brother, Tom F. Moss, during which time she performed at nearly every theatre in Britain. Her half-brother was the son of Summers' mother and Tom Major-Ball. Major-Ball later went on to marry Gwen Coates, and they had three children, one of whom, John, became British Prime Minister in 1990. In her early twenties, Summers damaged her vocal cords by reaching for a high note one night, cracking her voice, and by the end of the turn she was left with her distinctive gravelly voice. By 1939, she had left the stage to take up hairdressing and ran a combined hairdresser's and newsagent's with her first husband. She became a comedian when she tripped up on stage and swore, which the audience lapped up. Her act, "The Pipes of Pan", made her famous in London and the provinces. Other appearances by Summers include Agatha (alongside Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave), Sez Lez (with Les Dawson), Ready When You Are, Mr McGill, and performing a Victoria Wood scripted monologue in 1982's Wood and Walters, as well as appearing in Wood's TV play Nearly A Happy Ending. ==Personal life and death==

Aged 17, Summers married her first husband, John Arthur Hunt, who was 20 years her senior, in Bucklow, Cheshire, in 1928. They ran a combined hairdressers and newsagents in Sale, Cheshire. Hunt died aged 57 in November 1948, leaving Summers widowed at the age of 37. The following year, Summers met surgeon Clifford Simpson Smith, who was in a theatre box in a Black Country venue, where she told a joke about seeing many a rotten egg in a box. They met after the show, and were married shortly afterwards in Stourbridge, Worcestershire. The couple remained wed until Smith's death in June 1984. In January 1997, Summers died in her sleep at Oaklands Hospital, Manchester, of kidney failure. Summer's last words in hospital raised a smile. A nurse offered her a drink: "A cup of tea, milk or a glass of water...?" Very dryly, she replied: "It gets better all the time." Summers died seconds later. Summers was a member of The Grand Order of Lady Ratlings, a charitable organisation for women in show business. ==Filmography==