Cleo Laine

Dame Cleo Laine, Lady DankworthDBE(bornClementine Dinah Hitching;28 October 1927) is an English singer and actress known for herscat singing.She is the widow of jazz composer and musicianSir John Dankworthand the mother of bassistAlec Dankworthand singerJacqui Dankworth.

Dame Cleo Laine DBE
Laine in 1997
Background information
Birth name	Clementine Dinah Hitching
Born	(1927-10-28)28 October 1927 Southall,Middlesex,England
Genres	Jazz pop
Occupations	Singer actress
Years active	1950s–2018
Spouses	George Langridge ​ ​ (m.1946;div.1957)​ SirJohn Dankworth ​ ​ (m.1958; died 2010)​

Early life

Laine was born Clementine Dinah Hitching on 28 October 1927, inSouthall,Middlesex(now London),to Alexander Sylvan Campbell, a Jamaicanwho worked as a building labourerand regularlybusked,and Minnie Bullock, an English farmer's daughter fromSwindon,Wiltshire, whose maiden name was reportedly Hitching.

The family moved constantly, but most of Laine's childhood was spent in Southall. It was not until 1953, when she was 26 and applying for a passport for a forthcoming tour of Germany, that Laine found out her real birth name, owing to her parents not being married at the time and her mother registering her under her own name (Hitching).

Education

Laine attended the Board School on Featherstone Road, Southall (later known as Featherstone Primary School), and was sent by her mother for singing and dancing lessons at an early age. She went on to attendMellow Lane Senior SchoolinHayesbefore going to work as an apprentice hairdresser, a hat-trimmer, a librarian, and in a pawnbroker's shop.

Career

Cleo Laine (1962)

Laine auditioned successfully at the age of 24 forJohn Dankworth's small group, the Johnny Dankworth Seven. Laine later played with his big bands, Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra as well as Johnny Dankworth & His New Radio Orchestra, with which she performed until 1958. Dankworth and Laine married that year.She played the lead inBarry Reckord'sFlesh to a Tigerat London'sRoyal Court Theatre,home of the new wave of playwrights of the 1950s such asJohn OsborneandHarold Pinter.The same year, she played the title role inThe Barren One,Sylvia Wynter's adaptation ofFederico García Lorca'sYerma.This led to other stage performances, such as the musicalValmouthin 1959, the playA Time to Laugh(withRobert MorleyandRuth Gordon) in 1962,Boots With Strawberry Jam(withJohn Neville) in 1968, and eventually to her role as Julie inWendy Toye's production ofShow Boatat theAdelphi Theatrein London in 1971.Show Boathad its longest run to date in that London season with 910 performances staged.

During this period, she had two major recording successes. "You'll Answer to Me" reached the British Top 10 while Laine was "prima donna" in the 1961Edinburgh Festivalproduction ofKurt Weill's opera/balletThe Seven Deadly Sins,directed and choreographed byKenneth MacMillan.In 1964, herShakespeare and All that Jazzalbum with Dankworth was well received. Dankworth and Laine foundedthe Stablestheatre in 1970, in what was the old stables block in the grounds of their home.It eventually hosted over 350 concerts per year.

Laine's international activities began in 1972, with a successful first tour of Australia, where she released six top-100 albums throughout the 1970s.Shortly afterwards, her career in the United States was launched with a concert at New York'sLincoln Center,followed in 1973 by the first of manyCarnegie Hallappearances. Coast-to-coast tours of the US and Canada soon followed, and with them a succession of record albums and television appearances, includingThe Muppet Showin 1977.This led, after several nominations, to her first Grammy award, in recognition of the live recording of her 1983 Carnegie concert. She kept touring into the 21st century, including in Australia in 2005.She performed live in the UK as late as 2018.

She has collaborated withJames Galway,Nigel Kennedy,Julian Lloyd WebberandJohn Williams.Other important recordings during that time were duet albums withRay Charles(Porgy and Bess) as well asArnold Schoenberg'sPierrot Lunaire,for which she received a Grammy Award nomination.

Laine's relationship with the musical theatre started in Britain and continued in the United States with starring performances inSondheim'sA Little Night MusicandFranz Lehár'sThe Merry Widow(Michigan Opera). In 1980 she starred inColette,a musical by Dankworth. The show began atthe Stablestheatre,Wavendon,in 1979 and transferred to theComedy Theatre,London, in September 1980. In 1985 she originated the role of Princess Puffer in the Broadway musicalThe Mystery of Edwin Drood,for which she received aTonynomination. In 1989, she received the Los Angeles critics' acclaim for her portrayal of the Witch in Sondheim'sInto the Woods.In May 1992, Laine appeared withFrank Sinatrafor a week of concerts at theRoyal Albert Hallin London.

Laine performing atPlaya Vista, Los Angeles,in 2007

Derek Jewelof theSunday Timesdubbed her "quite simply the best singer in the world."

Personal life

In 1946, Laine married George Langridge, a roof tiler, with whom she had a son, Stuart. The couple divorced in 1957.

In 1958, she marriedJohn Dankworth.They were married until his death in 2010. On that day, Laine performed at a concert atThe Stablesto mark the venue's 40th anniversary. She then announced Dankworth's death at the end of the show.

As of 2018,Laine resides inWavendon,Buckinghamshire.

Awards and honours

• Officer of theOrder of the British Empire,1979
• Grammy Award nomination, Best Female Jazz Vocalist,Smilin' Throughwith Dudley Moore, 1983
• Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female,1986
• Lifetime Achievement Award, U.S. recording industry, 1991
• Dame Commander of theOrder of the British Empire,1997
• Lifetime Achievement Award,Worshipful Company of Musicians,2002
• Gold Award, BBC Jazz Awards, 2008
• BASCAGold Badge Award, 2016
• Honorary Fellow,Hughes Hall,University of Cambridge
• A street inAdelaide, South Australia,was named after her.
• honorary doctorates:Berklee College of Music,University of Cambridge,University of York,Open University,University of Luton

Discography

• She's the Tops!(MGM,1957)
• In retrospect(MGM), 1957
• Jazz DatewithTubby Hayes(Wing,1961)
• All About Me(Fontana,1962)
• Shakespeare and All That Jazz(Fontana, 1964)
• Woman to Woman(Fontana, 1966)
• Sir William Walton's FacadewithAnnie Ross(Fontana, 1967)
• If We Lived on the Top of a Mountain(Fontana, 1968)
• The Unbelievable(Fontana, 1968)
• Soliloquy(Fontana, 1968)
• Portrait(Philips,1971)
• Feel the Warm(Columbia,1972)
• An Evening with Cleo Laine & the John Dankworth Quartet(Philips, 1972)
• I Am a Song(RCA Victor,1973)
• Day by Day(Stanyan, 1973)
• Cleo Laine Live!!! at Carnegie Hall(RCA Victor, 1974)
• A Beautiful Thing(RCA Victor, 1974)
• Sings Pierrot Lunaire(RCA Red Seal,1974)
• Cleo Close Up(RCA Victor, 1974)
• Spotlight On Cleo Laine(Philips, 1974)
• Easy Livin(Stanyan, 1975)
• Cleo Laine(MGM, 1975)
• Best FriendswithJohn Williams(RCA Victor, 1976)
• Born on a Friday(RCA Victor, 1976)
• Porgy & BesswithRay Charles(RCA Victor, 1976)
• At the Wavendon Festival(Black Lion,1976)
• A Lover and His Lasswith Johnny Dankworth (Esquire,1976)
• Return to Carnegie(RCA Victor, 1977)
• Cleo's Greatest Show Hits(RCA Victor, 1978)
• Gonna Get Through(RCA Victor, 1978)
• Cleo Laine Sings Word Songs(RCA Victor, 1978)
• Cleo Laine in Australiawith Johnny Dankworth (World Record Club, 1978)
• Cleo's Choice(Marble Arch,1974)
• Sometimes When We TouchwithJames Galway(RCA Red Seal, 1980)
• Cleo Laine in Concert(RCA Victor, 1980)
• One More Day(Sepia, 1981)
• Smilin' ThroughwithDudley Moore(CBS, 1982)
• Let the Music Take Youwith John Williams (CBS, 1983)
• That Old Feeling(K West, 1984)
• Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert(RCA Victor, 1984)
• At the Carnegie: Cleo Laine in Concert(Sierra, 1986)
• The Unforgettable Cleo Laine(PRT, 1987)
• Cleo Sings SondheimwithJonathan Tunick(RCA Victor, 1988)
• Woman to Woman(RCA Victor, 1989)
• Jazz(RCA Victor, 1991)
• Nothing without Youwith Mel Torme (Concord Jazz,1992)
• On the TownwithMichael Tilson Thomas(Deutsche Grammophon,1993)
• Blue and Sentimental(RCA Victor, 1994)
• Solitudewith the Duke Ellington Orchestra (RCA Victor, 1995)
• Quality Time(Sepia, 2002)
• Loesser GeniuswithLaurie Holloway(Qnote, 2003)

External links

• Cleo LaineatIMDb
• Cleo Laineat theInternet Broadway Database
• Cleo Laineat theInternet Off-Broadway Database
• Clip of TV performanceonYouTube
• Radio interview with Nathan Morleyfrom April 2010. Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
• Daily Telegraphprofile,2 August 2007.
• Fordham, John(15 November 2007)."'Beethoven with a Bass Guitar? Fine!'".The Guardian.Interview with Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth.