Gracie Fields

Gracie Fields rose from modest origins in a narrow backstreet of Lancashire to become a Dame of the British Empire, propelled by the sheer power of her exceptional soprano voice. She entered the world in 1898 above a shop in Rochdale and sustained a six-decade presence in music and motion pictures through the stresses of wartime and its accompanying criticism, a struggle with cervical cancer, and three marriages.

Born Gracie Stansfield, she launched her performing life in itinerant British variety troupes while supplementing her income through factory labor. Her introduction to comedian Archie Pitt proved pivotal; he took a serious interest in advancing her prospects. Their initial joint venture was the 1915 revue Yes, I Think So. Additional revues followed, leading to their marriage in 1923. In 1925 the pair transferred a hit production to London’s Alhambra Theatre and sustained the tour for nearly ten years. By then Fields had achieved genuine stardom and considerable wealth. Subsequent shows routinely sold out, after which she and Pitt parted ways.

She ultimately completed sixteen films, the first being Sally in Our Alley in 1931. Its title song “Sally” became her signature, although she later grew to detest it. Before her screen work concluded, she commanded higher fees per picture than any other British actress of the era. Despite this success she derived little pleasure from filmmaking, even when Twentieth Century Fox offered a Hollywood contract. By the close of the decade she had also become a sought-after recording artist and performed across multiple continents.

After completing Shipyard Sally in 1939 she received a diagnosis of cervical cancer. More than a quarter-million letters conveying affection and support arrived from admirers worldwide. Following surgery she withdrew to the Isle of Capri in the company of film director Monty Banks, whom she had met while making Queen of Hearts, and her longtime companion Mary Davey. Though still recovering when World War II began, she insisted on entertaining British forces stationed in France. In 1940 she married Banks, an Italian national. To spare him the risks of enemy-alien status and possible internment, she accepted engagements in North America. The decision provoked intense domestic criticism, with British newspapers portraying her departure as abandonment of her country during crisis. Nevertheless she persisted in raising funds for the British war effort, ultimately collecting more than half a million dollars. She returned to England for two performances in the early 1940s and made frequent radio broadcasts. Banks suffered a fatal heart attack aboard the Orient Express in 1950. Fields later married Boris Alperovici and died of a heart attack in 1979.