Dorothy Squires

Dorothy Squires. Born Edna May Squires in Pontyberem, Carmarthenshire, she was a Welsh singer who achieved significant popularity from the 1940s through the 1960s with a powerful, dramatic vocal style. Her career spanned over six decades, marked by chart success, lavish performances in major London venues, and a tumultuous personal life that often captured public attention. Though her popularity waned in later years, she remained a resilient and iconic figure in British entertainment.

Early life and career

Edna May Squires was born into a working-class family in the village of Pontyberem in rural Carmarthenshire. Demonstrating musical talent from a young age, she left school at fourteen and initially worked in a local Woolworths store before pursuing her ambitions in entertainment. She began performing in her teens, adopting the stage name Dorothy Squires, and gained early experience singing with the Billy Reid Orchestra, a popular dance band of the era. Her breakthrough came when she recorded Reid's composition "The Gypsy", which became a major hit and established her powerful, emotive singing style on the national stage during the late 1930s and early World War II period.

Rise to fame

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Squires became one of the highest-paid entertainers in Britain, known for her extravagant stage shows and renditions of dramatic ballads. She achieved a string of chart successes with songs like "I'm Walking Behind You" and "Say It with Flowers", and became a regular performer at prestigious venues such as the London Palladium and the Café de Paris. Her career peaked in the early 1950s, a period during which she also made successful tours of Australia and South Africa, and appeared frequently on BBC radio and television programmes. She was renowned for her lavish lifestyle, which included a custom-built mansion in Wentworth and a fleet of luxury cars, cementing her status as a major star of post-war Britain.

Personal life and later years

Squires's personal life was often turbulent and highly publicized, most notably her marriage in 1953 to actor Roger Moore, who was over a decade her junior and not yet internationally famous. The relationship, which played out in the pages of the British tabloids, ended in a protracted and acrimonious divorce in 1968, coinciding with a decline in her professional fortunes. Financial difficulties and legal battles, including a famous libel case against the Daily Mirror, plagued her later career. Despite setbacks, she demonstrated remarkable tenacity, staging comebacks and performing into the 1990s, including a notable residency at the Talk of the Town. She spent her final years in relative seclusion in Hillingdon before her death in 1998.

Legacy and discography

Dorothy Squires left behind a substantial discography spanning the eras of 78s, EPs, and LPs on labels like EMI and Decca Records. While her style fell out of mainstream fashion, she is remembered as a quintessential star of the mid-20th century variety era, influencing later performers with her commanding presence. Her life has been the subject of several biographies and documentaries, examining both her theatrical career and her complex personal narrative. Key recordings that define her legacy include "The Gypsy", "I'm Walking Behind You", and her signature song, "Till", which she performed with characteristic emotional force.

Category:Welsh singers Category:1915 births Category:1998 deaths