Biography
Born Philomena McGeachie Levy on October 11, 1932, in Glasgow, Scotland, Billie Anthony counted Gracie Fields among her godmothers, though her parents had already separated just eighteen days after her arrival. Her mother Lily worked as a dancer, so the girl grew up immersed in theater life and nurtured early ambitions of following the same path. In 1946, at fourteen, she left home without permission to travel with May Moxon’s troupe in a touring revue. There she encountered Peter Elliott; their mutual passion for dance led them to create the double act billed as Phil & Peter Elliott, the Debonair Dancers. The partnership ended when Peter received his call-up for Royal Air Force national service.
On the recommendation of singer Tony Brent, who had already achieved success, she turned to solo vocal work, adopted the stage name Billie Anthony, and, through Brent’s introduction to manager Don Agness, secured a contract with Columbia Records. Although she issued many singles throughout the first half of the 1950s, only her recording of Stuart Hamblen’s “This Ole House” entered the charts; it reached number four yet was outsold by Rosemary Clooney’s far more popular version. In the mid-1950s she maintained a steady schedule of theater dates that included a performance at the Royal Albert Hall and multiple appearances alongside Harry Secombe in the variety production Rocking the Town.
After Peter Elliott completed his military service they married, but the union later ended in divorce. She kept performing, taking shows to British forces in Cyprus, Malta, and North Africa, before withdrawing from the profession to raise her children. In 2001 EMI issued the compilation EMI Presents the Magic of Billie Anthony, a thirty-three-track collection that featured twenty-two of her singles together with her sole hit. Billie Anthony spent her final years in Hornsey, North London, suffered a series of strokes, and died on January 5, 1991, at the age of fifty-eight.
On the recommendation of singer Tony Brent, who had already achieved success, she turned to solo vocal work, adopted the stage name Billie Anthony, and, through Brent’s introduction to manager Don Agness, secured a contract with Columbia Records. Although she issued many singles throughout the first half of the 1950s, only her recording of Stuart Hamblen’s “This Ole House” entered the charts; it reached number four yet was outsold by Rosemary Clooney’s far more popular version. In the mid-1950s she maintained a steady schedule of theater dates that included a performance at the Royal Albert Hall and multiple appearances alongside Harry Secombe in the variety production Rocking the Town.
After Peter Elliott completed his military service they married, but the union later ended in divorce. She kept performing, taking shows to British forces in Cyprus, Malta, and North Africa, before withdrawing from the profession to raise her children. In 2001 EMI issued the compilation EMI Presents the Magic of Billie Anthony, a thirty-three-track collection that featured twenty-two of her singles together with her sole hit. Billie Anthony spent her final years in Hornsey, North London, suffered a series of strokes, and died on January 5, 1991, at the age of fifty-eight.
Albums