Ruby Murray

Ruby Florence Murray was born near the Donegall Road in south Belfast, the youngest child in a Protestant family. She underwent surgery at six weeks of age due to swollen glands and, as a result, had a very husky voice. Entering a public speaking contest run by Eglinton Young Farmers Club, Derry in March 1947, she won a special prize for the youngest competitor under 18. A performance at the Ballymena Variety Theatre in February 1948 received a positive reception and she then toured in Northern Ireland as a child singer. Murray first appeared on television at the age of 12, having been spotted by producer Richard Afton. ==Chart success==

Murray kept busy on the variety stage in Northern Ireland in the early 1950s and in 1954 she joined a touring revue called "Yankee Doodle Blarney" which gave her very useful exposure on the English variety stages. Richard Afton offered her the position of resident singer on the BBC's Quite Contrary television show, to replace Joan Regan. After being again spotted by Ray Martin on the first Quite Contrary show, Murray was signed to Columbia and her first single, "Heartbeat", reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1954.{{cite book The 1950s was a busy period for Murray, during which she had her own television show, starred at the London Palladium with Norman Wisdom, appeared in a Royal Command Performance (1955){{cite book Murray appeared as "Ruby" in her only film role, A Touch of the Sun, a 1956 farce with Frankie Howerd and Dennis Price. A couple of hits followed later in the decade; "Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye", a No. 10 hit in 1959, was her final appearance in the charts. EMI released a compilation album of her hits on CD in 1989, including songs that regularly featured in her act; "Mr. Wonderful", "Scarlet Ribbons" and "It's the Irish in Me". They updated this with the release of EMI Presents The Magic of Ruby Murray in 1997 and a four CD album, Anthology – The Golden Anniversary Collection, in 2005, the 50th anniversary of her peak successes on the charts. ==Legacy==

Murray's popularity led to her name being adopted in Cockney rhyming slang as a rhyme for "curry". The phrase "have a ruby" appears in various episodes of the BBC TV comedy series Only Fools and Horses. It also appeared in another BBC sitcom series, The Royle Family. A play about Murray's life, Ruby, written by the Belfast playwright Marie Jones, opened at the Group Theatre in Belfast in April 2000. Virgin Atlantic G-VYUM, a Boeing 787-9, is named the "Ruby Murray" in her honour. ==Personal life==

In 1957, while working in Blackpool, Murray met Bernie Burgess, a member of a successful television and recording vocal quartet, the Four Jones Boys. Shortly afterwards she left Northern Ireland to marry him and live in Northampton. They married in 1991 and spent the evening with a small party of friends and family at an Italian restaurant in Babbacombe. Murray had two children from her marriage to Burgess, Julie (b. 1960) and Tim (b. 1965). Although her days as a major star were long over, Murray continued performing until close to the end of her life, spending her last couple of years in Asprey's Nursing Home. She died of liver cancer on 17 December 1996 aged 61. Burgess died on 19 July 2024 aged 95. ==Singles discography==

• "Heartbeat" (1954) – UK number 3 • "Softly, Softly" (1955) – UK number 1 • "Happy Days and Lonely Nights" (1955) – UK number 6 • "Let Me Go Lover" (1955) – UK number 5 • "If Anyone Finds This, I Love You" (1955) – UK number 4 † • "Evermore" (1955) – UK number 3 • "I'll Come When You Call" (1955) – UK number 6 • "The Very First Christmas of All" (1955) – UK number 9 (Record Mirror) • "You are My First Love" (1956) – UK number 16 • "Real Love" (1958) – UK number 18 • "Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye" (1959) – UK number 10 † Ruby Murray with Anne Warren ==See also==