Eve Boswell

Born Eva Keleti on 11 May 1922 in Budapest, Hungary, the performer who later became known as Eve Boswell died on 14 August 1998 in Durban, South Africa. Her vivacious delivery made her a favourite with British audiences throughout the 1950s, yet she was equally skilled at the piano, trained as a ballet dancer, and fluent in four languages. After schooling in Lausanne, Switzerland, she pursued formal music studies at the Budapest Academy.

Her vaudeville upbringing led to teenage appearances alongside family members in the juggling trio billed as the Three Hugos. Relocating to South Africa, she joined Boswell’s Circus and wed Trevor McIntosh, stepson of one proprietor; he served as her manager until his death in 1970. During the 1940s she performed, under the name Eve Boswell, with Roy Martin’s orchestra, then South Africa’s foremost dance band.

She arrived in Britain in 1949, stepping into the featured-vocalist role with Geraldo’s Orchestra vacated by Doreen Lundy. Several Parlophone sides cut with the band—among them “Again,” “Best Of All” and the Reg Dixon composition “Confidentially”—preceded her departure in 1951. Subsequent engagements included a nationwide tour of George Black’s revue Happy-Go-Lucky and the starring role in the Blackpool Opera House production The Show Of Shows. She also entertained British troops in Korea and the Far East, maintained a busy schedule of radio, television and variety dates, and appeared at the 1953 Royal Variety Performance.

Although signed to Parlophone in 1950, her initial solo release “Bewitched” was followed by further successes such as “Beloved, Be Faithful,” “The Little Shoemaker” and “Ready, Willing And Able.” The biggest sellers proved to be the brisk South African numbers “Sugarbush,” which reached the British chart in 1952, and “Pickin’ A Chicken,” which entered in 1955 and reappeared twice during 1956. The album Sentimental Eve demonstrated equal command of slower material through interpretations of “I’ll Buy That Dream” and “You’ll Never Know.”

Active on the British scene from the 1950s into the following decade, she eventually withdrew from performing and began teaching voice. After McIntosh’s death she returned to South Africa, where she married radio producer Henry Holloway and established a singing school.