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Hey Big Spenders Interview from You Magazine, Sep 2003

Q: Whose Idea was the auction?
A: Mine, I wanted to see the gowns go to good homes in my lifetime. I'd like to think that museums might buy them, and drag artists, too, especially the ones who do me and have been dying to get their hands on an original.

Q: Won't it be a rather emotional event?
A: Absolutely, which is why I'll only go to the cocktail party beforehand. I couldn't watch my whole career go under the hammer, as it were.

Q: What was the genesis of your glamorous stage wear?
A: The wife of Michael Sullivan, the man who discovered me singing in a theatre in Jersey, made my first stage outfit. It was black with mink around the bust. When I put it on, I burst into tears. I felt I was too young to wear black, so I got her to make me one in white. From that moment on I have controlled what I wear.

Q: Which designers have you favoured over then years?
A: Douglas Darnell, who made his first frock for me in the 50s, and created the gold and silver dress I wore to sing the theme song of the James Bond film Goldfinger at the premiere in 1964. I have also work Bruce Oldfield, Julien MacDonald, and Sara Perceval.

Q: Which charities will benefit from the auction?
A: The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama - I want the money to be used to established annual scholarships to help young people with exceptional musical talent. And the Noah's Ark Appeal, which was launched in 2000 to build the first children's hospital in Wales.

Q: How important are your roots?
A: I was born in Splott, a docklands district of Tiger Bay in Cardiff. It's still very clear in my mind and I haven't lost touch with the Shirley of my childhood. I call her Early Shirley. Boy, did she go off in a surprising direction.

Q: What do you remember about your father Henry?
A: Nothing. My father was a Nigerian and he worked as a merchant seaman. He left home when I was two and I never saw him again.

Q: And your mother?
A: Eliza Jane came from Yorkshire. Times were tough, and she had lots of mouths to feed. I was the youngest of seven - six girls and one boy. She loved us very much and that is the greatest gift. She died when I was in my 40s. I spoiled her: I bought her a house and clothes, including a fur coat which she cherished.

Q: When did you discover you could sing?
A: When I was young, but I was terribly shy - I would hide under the table to sing. At school, they moved me to the back row of the choir, because my voice was too loud. Then when I worked at a local factory, I would do requests for my fellow workers. The supervisor was always telling me to pipe down.

Q: An international career and motherhood can be uneasy partners.
A: I felt I was forever being pulled in two different directions. The first time I went to Australia, for work, it took two and a half days to get there. I was only 20 years old and I was away for two months. My daughter Sharon was three. Oh, I felt such tremendous guilt.

Q: Which was reflected in your post bag?
A: I got a number of critical letters, yes. The senders would sat that I should be at home with my children. Other were openly racist. They'd ask why I didn't go back to where I came from. I was always tempted to write back, "What? Splott?"

Q: Where do you now call home?
Monte Carlo. I have an apartment overlooking the harbour. I love it, although I am not in the slightest bit domesticated. I put the dishes in the dishwasher at the weekend because the housekeeper doesn't come in then, but that's it.

Q: You divorced for a second time 26 years ago.
A: And I'd practically given up on men. I thought I'd never find anyone else. But then, this March at a private dinner party in a London restaurant, I was introduced to Greg Smith. He's a film and theatre producer and he's adorable. I have such good vibes.

Q: A third marriage?
Never say never! This is the best of times: I recently recorded a new album; I'm celebrating 50 years at the top, and now I've met my man.
 

Original Article

© You Magazine 2003

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