Wikipedia

Georgia Brown (English singer)

Georgia Brown(21 October 1933 – 5 July 1992) was an Englishsingerandactress.

Georgia Brown
Performing onCBS Television'sShowtime,1968
Born
Lilian Claire Klot

(1933-10-21)21 October 1933
Whitechapel,London, England
Died5 July 1992(1992-07-05)(aged 58)
London, England
Other namesGeorgia Brown
Occupation(s)Singer, actress
Years active1951–1992
Spouse
​
​
(m.1974;div.1981)​
Children1

Early life

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Georgia Brown, born Lilian Claire Klot,[1][2]was born and raised in the East End of London. The daughter of Mark and Annie (née Kirshenbaum) Klot,[3]Brown grew up in a large, extended Jewish family of Russian descent. Her father worked in a textile factory and as abookmaker.Brown attended the Central Foundation Grammar School. During theLondon Blitz,she was evacuated to the mining village ofSix Bells,Abertillery,Monmouthshire,Wales.[4]

Career

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During an initial performing career as a nightclub singer, she adopted the professional name Georgia Brown with reference to two of her favourite repertoire items: "Sweet Georgia Brown"and"Georgia on My Mind".[2]At the age of 17, she appeared at the Embassy Club in London in April 1951 to mixed reviews[5]and she then went into a number of stage presentations at the Empire, Leicester Square for three months.[6]Brown made her first records, “A Friend of Johnny’s” and “Sweet Georgia Brown”, for Decca and they were released in May 1951.[7]She returned to cabaret work at the Washington Club in London in January 1952 before recording thirteen shows for the American Forces Network in West Germany.[8]

Brown was a flatmate of singerAnnie Rosswith whom she formed part of the vocal quartet known as Lambert, Hendricks, Ross & Brown. Brown then left the quartet, which became the trioLambert, Hendricks & Ross.

Brown maintained a low profile until she returned to the UK show business scene when she appeared on the BBC-TV showVariety Paradeon February 5, 1955.[9]Successful appearances in variety followed[10]and she made another record for Decca, “My Crazy Li'l Mixed Up Heart”.[11]Brown moved on into musical theatre; her breakout role was playing Lucy in the 1956West Endrevival ofThe Threepenny Operaat theRoyal Court Theatre,[12]a role she repeated the following year when she joined the cast of theoff-Broadwayproduction.[13]

Her breakthrough role was Nancy inOliver!,a role she created in the original 1960 London production.[12]When she first came in to audition for the musical's author and composer,Lionel Bart,he recognized her as a childhood neighbour, and greeted her as "Lily Klot". Her subsequent audition caused him to award her the role of Nancy. Bart had conceived that role in the hope of having singerAlma Coganplaying it. However, it was reported that after he had cast Brown as Nancy, he then composed theOliver!numbers "As Long as He Needs Me"and" It's a Fine Life "specifically with her in mind. She created the role of Nancy in the 1963 Broadway production ofOliver!,[14]earning aTony Awardnomination for her performance; her voice is heard on both the original West End and Broadwaycast recordings.[citation needed]

On 9 February 1964, she appeared onThe Ed Sullivan Showwith 18-year-oldDavy Jones(pre-Monkees) recreating two scenes from the musical then showing on Broadway.[15]This happened to be the same evening thatthe Beatlesmade their first live US appearance on the show.[16]The role of Nancy in thefilm versionwent to Brown's friendShani Wallis.

After a stint in Bart'sMaggie Mayin 1965, Brown concentrated on screen work for more than a decade.[12]She appeared as a singer inA Study in Terror(1965),[12]followed by a number of films, includingThe Fixer(1968),[12]Lock Up Your Daughters(1969),The Raging Moon(1971, for which she was nominated for aBAFTAAward),Running Scared(1972),Nothing But the Night(1973),Tales That Witness Madness(1973),Galileo(1975),The Seven-Per-Cent Solution(1976)[12]andThe Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones(1976). She also appeared in several television dramas, including the BBC's highly acclaimedThe Roads to Freedom,a 1970 adaptation ofJean-Paul Sartre'strilogyfor which she sang the theme song "La route est dure".

Brown made a memorable one-off appearance as aBloomsburyradical in a 1971 episode ofUpstairs, Downstairs,portrayedmusic hallsingerMarie Lloydin the 1972 serialThe Edwardians,and took the role of Mrs Peachum inThe Rebel,a 1975 biographical drama, one of four aboutBenjamin Franklin.

Despite her success in such roles, Brown was unhappy with the relative paucity of significant parts for women in television drama. She expressed her dissatisfaction to the BBC and was told to identify a series she would like to be in. Discussions followed between Brown and script editorMidge Mackenzie,and the pair devised the idea for a drama chronicling the struggle for women's suffrage in late 19th- and early 20th-century Britain. Brown enlisted the help of producerVerity Lambert,and the three women got approval from the BBC. In the course of realising the project, Brown and her colleagues found they had to remove a number of misconceptions and inaccuracies from the scripts written by male writers. Brown referred to these as "the male point of view".

Shoulder to Shoulderwas first broadcast in six parts in 1974.[17]Brown (and others) sang the theme song for the series, "The March of the Women",and she took the role ofworking classactivistAnnie Kenney,alongsideSiân PhillipsandAngela Down,asEmmelineandSylvia Pankhurst,respectively.

The episode dealing most closely with Annie Kenney was written byAlan Plater,who had written the 1972 drama about Marie Lloyd (played by Brown) and her involvement in the 1907 music hall artistes' strike, inThe Edwardians.Shoulder to Shoulderremains highly regarded as an attempt to convey an important episode both offeminist historyand of Britain's history of dissent and civil disobedience.

In 1974, she appeared on BBC TV'sThe Good Old Days,recreating more music hall performances; in 1961, she had recorded an album of music hall songs,A Little of What You Fancy,with theTed Heath Band.[18]

Brown returned to Broadway to join the cast of the long-running revueSide by Side by Sondheimin October 1977, replacing Bonnie Schon.[19]In 1979, she created the title role inAlan Jay LernerandBurton Lane's unsuccessful musicalCarmelina,[12]which ran on Broadway for 17 performances.[20]

She toured Britain inGeorgia Brown and Friends,[12]then brought the revue to Broadway at theNederlander Theatrefor a limited run from 15 October 1982 to 21 October 1982.[21]

In 1984, she took the lead role of Dorothy Brock in the musical42nd StreetatTheatre Royal, Drury Lane,London.[22]In 1987, theGilbert BecaudmusicalRoza,[12]under the direction ofHal Prince,closed after only 12 performances. Her performance of Mrs. Peachum in the 1989 Broadway revival ofThe Threepenny Operaearned her another Tony Award nomination.[14]Brown can be heard on the charity tribute CDMack & Mabel in Concert(1988) in which she sings "Time Heals Everything".[citation needed]

In her later years, she limited herself to concerts, cabaret appearances, and guest spots on television series such asGreat Performances,Murder, She WroteandCheers;she earned anEmmy Awardnomination for her role asCarla Tortelli's spiritual adviser Madame Lazora in 1990, and reprised the role in 1991. She made two appearances inStar Trek: The Next Generation( "New Ground"and"Family") portrayingHelena Rozhenko,Worf's adoptive mother.

Record releases

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Singles

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Brown recorded the single, "Don't Take Your Love from Me"bw" Roll Him Over "that was released in the US onLondon45-9513.[23]With "Roll Him Over" touted as the A side, it was noted as a Special Merit Single and was given four stars for both sides in the 20 January, 1962 issue ofBillboard.[24]It was also reported the same week byCash Boxthat the initial reaction to "Roll Him Over" had madeMike Collierexcited, jumping for joy and he had embarked on an extensive road trip to promote Brown's single as well as "Midnight in Moscow"by Jan Burgens.[25]

Albums

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In addition to a number of original cast albums, Brown recorded several solo albums, includingGeorgia Brown Sings Kurt Weill(Decca LK4509, accompaniment directed byIan Fraser) andGeorgia Brown Sings Gershwin.[citation needed]

Personal life

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In 1974, Brown married producerGareth Wigan,with whom she had been involved for at least seven years; the couple married in order to expedite their immigration with their son Jonathan (then aged six) to the United States. Brown and Wigan separated in 1979, with their divorce becoming final in 1981 after protracted legal wrangling.

Death

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Brown died at the age of 58 in London on 5 July 1992. A permanent U.S. resident who lived in California, she had flown to London to appear on the bill for a tribute toSammy Davis Jr.held that week at theDrury Lane Theatre.[26]

Before the date of the tribute she became ill and underwent emergency surgery to remove an intestinal obstruction atCharing Cross Hospital,[27]where she died from complications. She was interred atMount Sinai Memorial Park Cemeteryin California.

References

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  1. ^Per GRO BIRTH REGISTRY at Freebmd.org.uk: “KLOT Lilian C Kirschenbaum [mother's maiden name] Stepney 1c 184”
  2. ^abBarron, James."Georgia Brown, An Actress, 57; Was in 'Oliver!'"The New York Times,6 July 1992
  3. ^"Search".FreeBMD.Retrieved23 August2021.
  4. ^"Bethany Baptist, Six Bells: Old Photos".31 October 1975.Retrieved25 May2019.
  5. ^"Sunday Mirror".Sunday Mirror:11. 8 April 1951.
  6. ^"The Stage".The Stage:5. 25 October 1951.
  7. ^"Daily Herald".Daily Herald:2. 5 May 1951.
  8. ^"Daily Mirror".Daily Mirror:2. 14 March 1953.
  9. ^"Daily Mirror".Daily Mirror:5. 5 February 1955.
  10. ^"The Stage".The Stage:5. 7 April 1955.
  11. ^"Kinematograph Weekly".Kinematograph Weekly:16. 17 March 1955.
  12. ^abcdefghiColin Larkin,ed. (1992).The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music(First ed.).Guinness Publishing.p. 341.ISBN0-85112-939-0.
  13. ^Georgia Brownat theInternet Off-Broadway Database
  14. ^abGeorgia Brownat theInternet Broadway Database
  15. ^"The Beatles (1st appearance), Davy Jones, Georgia Brown Episode Recap".tv.Archived fromthe originalon 29 June 2011.Retrieved27 February2011.
  16. ^"Mitzi McCall & Charlie Brill vs The Beatles".2min 10sec and 4min 50sec. Archived fromthe originalon 11 December 2015.Retrieved27 February2011– viaYouTube.
  17. ^"Shoulder to Shoulder Season 1 1975 Episode Guides".TVGuide.Retrieved8 February2014.
  18. ^"Shoulder To Shoulder (1974)".Screenonline.org.uk.British Film Institute.Retrieved8 February2014.
  19. ^"'Side by Side by Sondheim' Replacements ".ibdb.Retrieved2 February2018.
  20. ^"Carmelinaprofile ".Playbill.Retrieved2 February2018.
  21. ^"Georgia Brown and Friends".Playbill.Retrieved2 February2018.
  22. ^"Cast",Broadwayworld, retrieved 2 February 2018
  23. ^45Cat -Georgia Brown - Discography, USA, Georgia Brown, A: Don't Take Your Love From Me
  24. ^Billboard,January 20, 1962 -SINGLES REVIEWS, SPECIAL MERIT SINGLES, Pop Talent, GEORGIA BROWN
  25. ^Cash Box,January 20, 1962 -Page 16 RECORD RAMBLINGS, NEW YOR$K:
  26. ^Vallance, Tom."Obituary: Georgia Brown"The Independent,6 July 1992.
  27. ^"Georgia Brown, 57; Performed on Stages in the United States, Britain"Los Angeles Times,7 July 1992.
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