Lizbeth Webb
| Lizbeth Webb | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Elizabeth Holton 30 January 1926 Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom |
| Died | 17 January 2013 (aged 86) London, England |
| Occupation | soprano, actress |
| Years active | 1943–1969 |
| Spouse(s) | Donald H. Parker Col. Sir Guy Campbell, Bt. (deceased 19 July 1993) |
Elizabeth Sandra Holton (30 January 1926 – 17 January 2013), better known by her stage name, Lizbeth Webb, was an English soprano and stage actress. Known as "the champagne soprano", she is remembered partly for originating the song "This Is My Lovely Day".
After performing as a dance band vocalist and entertaining British troops during World War II, Webb pursued a career in West End musicals, becoming known for her vivaciousness in playing such roles as Lucy Willow in Bless the Bride, Linda in Ivor Novello's Gay's the Word and Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls. She married Colonel Guy Campbell, the heir to a baronetcy, and left the stage in the late 1950s, bringing up two sons but returning for a last engagement in the title role of The Merry Widow in 1969.
Webb was born at Tilehurst near Reading, Berkshire, the last of three children of Frederick and Ethel Holton, who raised her. Her mother died in childbirth, and she was adopted by her aunt and uncle, Ethel and Alfred Wills Webber. Her sisters were adopted by other aunts. She attended E. P. Collier Primary School, where she was known as Betty Webber. She later went on to Hemdean House School and Queen Anne's School, both in Caversham, Reading. As a child, she excelled at rowing, swimming and running. From an early age, she took singing lessons.
She began her career as a teenage band vocalist and on BBC radio under the name Betty Webb, singing to the troops during World War II and freelancing with British bands, often for Jack Payne, who discovered her, and also for Albert Sandler, Henry Hall, Louis Levy and Geraldo. She generally performed two or three live broadcasts daily during the height of the German air-raids. She was also a regular on programmes such as Happidrome, Workers Playtime, Kaleidoscope, "Music Hall", Variety Bandbox, Four and Twenty, The Forces Show with Diana Dors, Jack Buchanan and Bob Monkhouse, Follies of the Air with Sonnie Hale, Home at Eight with Hermione Gingold and Richard Attenborough, and Friday Night Is Music Night. Among the conductors she sang with were George Melachrino, Mantovani, Richard Tauber, Harry Rabinowitz, Stanley Black, Max Jaffa, Charles Mackerras, both Eric and Stanford Robinson and Vilém Tauský.
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