Billie Anthony
| Billie Anthony | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Philomena McGeachie Levy |
| Born |
11 October 1932 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 5 January 1991 (aged 58) London, England |
| Genres | Traditional pop |
Billie Anthony (11 October 1932 – 5 January 1991) was a Scottish female singer. She is best known for her Top 10 hit version of "This Ole House", which despite chart competition from other versions of the same song, reached No. 4 in the UK chart.
She was born Philomena McGeachie Levy in Glasgow, Scotland. Her mother, Lily, was a talented dancer and her father, a song and dance man, and stage manager at the Glasgow Empire. Her godmother was Gracie Fields. Although her parents divorced when she was eighteen days old, she spent her entire childhood in and around the theatre, and wanted a career on the stage as a dancer. At first her mother was against her going into show business, so on leaving school she reluctantly agreed to train as a dressmaker, but her obsession with the theatre proved too powerful.
In 1946, when still only fourteen, she ran away from home and joined the chorus of a touring show as one of "May Moxon's Young Ladies". Five years later she met Peter Elliott, who was part of a famous show business family called The Musical Elliotts. They developed an instant friendship and, due to their mutual love of dancing, decided on the formation of their own double act. As Phil and Peter Elliott, they successfully toured variety theatres as "The Debonair Dancers – Four Educated Feet". They toured continuously throughout 1952 but, in 1953, were compelled to abandon their act when Peter was called up to do his national service with the Royal Air Force.
During their time on the variety circuit they had met and become friends with singer Tony Brent, who had several hit records to his name. It was Brent who first recognised Levy's vocal potential and, acting on his advice, she decided to go solo in an effort to try to make a living as a singer while Elliott was away. Brent introduced her to his own manager, Don Agness, and he arranged for her to do a trial recording. Then in October 1953, after months of voice training and with her name changed to Billie Anthony, she recorded and released her first single for Columbia Records called "I'd Rather Take My Time" coupled with "Things Go Wrong". However it flopped.
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