Made in Rochdale: Gracie Fields (1898-1979) was a mill girl who became an international singing and acting star of the industrial age, bringing hope and humour to millions. 1/5
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‘Our Gracie’ made her professional debut at Rochdale Hippodrome in 1910. She landed a Hollywood deal, yet insisted that the four pictures be filmed in Britain. When she became ill with cervical cancer in 1939, she received 600,000 cards and letters from well-wishers. 2/5
In her best-known film Sing As We Go! (1934, script by J.B. Priestley), she plays a high-spirited, resourceful heroine made redundant from her job in a Lancashire cotton mill, who is forced to seek work in Blackpool. 3/5
After misadventures punctuated by songs and romantic complications, she helps to reopen the factory, which is saved by adopting a new synthetic fibre. She leads workers back through the gates in the same manner as they left, singing the title song with gusto. 4/5
In the second world war, she and her Italian husband went to America to avoid him being interned, but she entertained British troops all over the world. Popularity in Britain declined, but she returned and sang ‘Take Me To Your Heart Again’. 5/5
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Nice lady.
1. I actually have Gracie Fields' autograph somewhere, which someone I knew got from her on Capri.
2. Separated at birth from Steph McGovern.