Kathy Kirby

Kirby was born in Ilford, Essex (later part of Greater London), the eldest of three children of Irish parents. Her mother Eileen brought them up alone after their father left early in their childhood. Kirby grew up on Tomswood Hill, Barkingside, in Ilford, and attended the Ursuline Convent School, where she sang in the choir. ==Career==

Kirby's vocal talent became apparent early in life, and she took singing lessons with a view to becoming an opera singer. She became a professional singer after meeting bandleader Bert Ambrose at the Ilford Palais in 1956. She remained with Ambrose's band for three years, and he remained her manager, mentor and lover until his death in Leeds in 1971. Also in 1960, on Parlophone Records, (45-R 4620), she was the uncredited girl speaker on Bruce Forsyth's ' I'm a Good Boy '. She adopted a "blonde bombshell" look and was compared to Marilyn Monroe. In 1962, Kirby signed a contract with Decca Records, for whom her first single was "(He's a) Big Man", released in October 1962. It sold well over a long period of time, but failed to reach the British charts. Its follow-up was an upbeat reworking of the Doris Day classic "Secret Love", which peaked at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. She represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 and came second with the song "I Belong", which also became a hit. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor describes Kirby's "I Belong" as being far more representative of current musical tastes than other songs from the contest, but she was beaten by France Gall from France, and representing Luxembourg, singing an even more contemporary song written by Serge Gainsbourg. Bitter at her defeat, she slapped Gall. An EP was issued featuring the six songs selected for the Eurovision Contest, featuring a different version of "I Belong", which peaked at No. 10 in 1965. No. 39 in Detroit, No. 39 in Washington, and No. 38 in Los Angeles. After the chart success of "I Belong", Kirby recorded more than a dozen singles between 1965 and 1967, but they failed to chart. She continued to make television appearances, including on The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club in 1975. During the 1970s, Kirby's singing career was eclipsed by a turbulent personal life, but she continued to perform live at smaller venues and made occasional television appearances and performed a few live concerts on the nostalgia circuit. On 31 December 1976, she performed her hit song "Secret Love" on BBC1's A Jubilee of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver Jubilee. Her final single, "He", was released in March 1981, at which time she was interviewed by Simon Reed for ITV. The interview focused on her attempted comeback after a difficult decade personally and professionally. In December 1983, she gave one last concert in Blackpool, then retired from show business altogether. ==Post-retirement==

Kirby did not perform in public after her retirement, but interest in her and her work continued, particularly among gay men, for whom she was something of an icon. In her last decade, she recorded short greetings for her official website. The Daily Express reported in 2008 that plans for a newly filmed interview had been abandoned, but later reports confirmed that the interview had been filmed, and it was subsequently included on a DVD compilation released the following year. She also gave an interview to the Express in 2009, which included recent photographs and was billed as her first in 26 years. Following the 2009 interview, the Sunday Express reported that some previously unreleased recordings would be made available on CD in 2010, and that Kirby had been approached to appear on Desert Island Discs, although neither the programme nor the CD has been released. ==Personal life==

Kirby met bandleader Bert Ambrose in her teens and, despite his being 42 years older and having an estranged wife at the time, In the 2009 interview, she said she had had an affair with Bruce Forsyth during this time. In the early 1980s Kirby had relationships with musician David Cross and lawyer Alan Porter. Kirby was diagnosed with schizophrenia She was survived by her sister Pat and her brother Douglas. ==BBC TV series==

The Kathy Kirby Show - Series 1 The Kathy Kirby Show - Series 2 TV specials ==Discography==

Singles (UK) Note: Kirby had one charted single on the US Billboard Hot 100: "The Way of Love" peaked at No. 88 in 1965.{{cite book ==Albums and E.P.==