Biography
Lynsey de Paul, born Lynsey Rubin, emerged among England’s earliest prominent female singer-songwriters and built a distinguished body of work. Her strongest period as a performer came during the 1970s, when she notched several disco successes, among them “Sugar Me,” which climbed to number five on the British pop charts; “Won’t Somebody Dance with Me,” honored with the Ivor Novello Award for Best Ballad of 1974; and “Rock Bottom,” a duet with vocalist Mike Moran. From 1972 through 1977 she supplied fourteen British Top 40 hits, later recorded by Nancy Sinatra, Cheryl Lynn, Heatwave, Bruce Johnston, Vera Lynn, and Shirley Bassey. Nine prime-time British television series adopted her compositions as themes, while the same material appeared in the 1978 edition of The Big Sleep, Side by Side, and Aces Go Places.
Prompted by her former partner James Coburn, she redirected her energies toward acting throughout the 1980s, taking roles in the British staging of Pump Boys and Dinettes as well as the films The Starlight Ballroom and Gabrielle and the Doodleman. She also moved into production, overseeing three Caribbean travelogues commissioned by Granada Sky Broadcasting and fronting an array of programs that included Club Vegetarian, Shopper’s Heaven, Eat Drink & Be Healthy, Women of Substance, The Vinyl Frontier, and numerous installments of Living Room Legends, a showcase for amateur video footage. Her BBC1 documentary on women’s self-defense, Eve Strikes Back, earned a Royal Television Society award. British humorist Spike Mulligan affectionately nicknamed her “Looney de Small.” On 1 October 2014 she suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage and died the same day at age 64.
Prompted by her former partner James Coburn, she redirected her energies toward acting throughout the 1980s, taking roles in the British staging of Pump Boys and Dinettes as well as the films The Starlight Ballroom and Gabrielle and the Doodleman. She also moved into production, overseeing three Caribbean travelogues commissioned by Granada Sky Broadcasting and fronting an array of programs that included Club Vegetarian, Shopper’s Heaven, Eat Drink & Be Healthy, Women of Substance, The Vinyl Frontier, and numerous installments of Living Room Legends, a showcase for amateur video footage. Her BBC1 documentary on women’s self-defense, Eve Strikes Back, earned a Royal Television Society award. British humorist Spike Mulligan affectionately nicknamed her “Looney de Small.” On 1 October 2014 she suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage and died the same day at age 64.
Albums
