Georgia Brown (English singer)
| Georgia Brown | |
|---|---|
Performing on CBS Television's Showtime, 1968
|
|
| Born |
Lillian Claire Laizer Getel Klot 21 October 1933 Whitechapel, London, England |
| Died | 5 July 1992 (aged 58) London, England |
| Occupation | Singer, actress |
| Years active | 1956–1992 |
| Spouse(s) | Gareth Wigan (1974–1981; divorced; 1 child) |
Georgia Brown (21 October 1933 – 5 July 1992) was an English singer and actress.
Georgia Brown was born and raised in Whitechapel. Her birth name was Lillian Claire Laizer Getel Klot and she was known as Lily. The daughter of Mark and Annie (née Kirshenbaum) Klot, Brown grew up in a large extended East European Jewish family. Her father worked in a textile factory and as a bookmaker. Brown attended the Central Foundation Grammar School. During the London Blitz, she was evacuated to Wales.
During her first performing career incarnation as a nightclub singer, she adopted the professional name Georgia Brown with reference to two of her favourite repertoire items, "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Georgia on My Mind". Brown was for a time a flatmate of singer Annie Ross with whom she formed half of a vocal quartet known as Lambert, Hendricks, Ross & Brown; but after a brief tenure Brown left the quartet, which became the famed trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
After an attempt at a recording career, with three overlooked singles released on Decca Records in 1955, Brown moved into musical theatre; one of her early credits was Bernard Delfont's Folies Bergeres at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Her breakout role was playing Lucy in the 1956 West End revival of The Threepenny Opera at the Royal Court Theatre, a role she repeated the following year when she joined the cast of the highly successful off-Broadway production.
Brown's career role was that of Nancy in the musical Oliver!, a role she created in the original 1960 London production. When she first came in to audition for the musical's author and composer, Lionel Bart, he recognized her as a childhood neighbour, and greeted her as "Lily Klot". Her subsequent audition caused him to award her the role of Nancy. Bart had conceived that role in hopes of pop singer Alma Cogan playing it; however, it was reported that after he cast Brown as Nancy, he then composed the Oliver! numbers "As Long As He Needs Me" and "It's a Fine Life" specifically with her in mind. She reprised the role of Nancy in the 1963 Broadway production of Oliver!, earning a Tony Award nomination for her performance, and her voice is heard on both the original West End and Broadway cast recordings.
...
Wikipedia