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Barbara Dickson

ActorBorn September 27, 1947 (77 years)
Barbara Ruth Dickson OBE (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" (a chart-topping duet with Elaine Paige), "Answer Me" and "January February". Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a number of hit singles, including four which reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. The Scotsman newspaper has described her as Scotland's best-selling female singer in terms of the numbers of hit chart singles and albums she has achieved in the UK since 1976.

She is also a two-time Olivier Award-winning actress, with roles including Viv Nicholson in the musical Spend Spend Spend, and was the original Mrs. Johnstone in Willy Russell's long-running musical Blood Brothers. On television she starred as Anita Braithwaite in Band of Gold.

Dickson was born in Dunfermline and went to Woodmill High School and Dunfermline High School. In the 1960s she lived in Dunfermline and in Dollytown, Rosyth, a prefab housing estate that was demolished in early 1970. Her father was a cook on a tugboat at Rosyth Dockyard and her mother was from Liverpool. She went to Camdean Primary School and Pitcorthie Primary School when she moved to Dunfermline.

Dickson's singing career started in folk clubs around her native Fife in 1964. Her first commercial recording was in 1968. Her early work included albums with Archie Fisher, the first of which, The Fate O' Charlie, a collection of songs from the Jacobite rebellions, was released in 1969. Her first solo album was Do Right Woman in 1970.

She became a well-known face on the British folk circuit of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but changed her career course after meeting Willy Russell. He was at that time a young student running a folk club in Liverpool. He showed Dickson the first draft of what later became the award-winning musical John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert and asked her to perform the music. The combination of his writing, the cast (including Antony Sher, Bernard Hill and Trevor Eve, who were unknown at the time) and Dickson's idiosyncratic interpretation of Beatles songs made the show hugely successful.

The show's co-producer, Robert Stigwood, signed Dickson to his record label, RSO Records, for whom she recorded the album Answer Me, arranged and produced by Junior Campbell, the title track becoming a top 10 hit in 1976. John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert also led to her guest residency on The Two Ronnies, which brought Dickson's singing to the attention of more than ten million BBC Television viewers every week.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice also spotted Dickson in John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert, and invited her to record "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from their new musical Evita, which became her second hit in 1977. She contributed two tracks to Scouse the Mouse a children's album (1977) with Ringo Starr and others. During the late 1970s, Dickson also contributed backing vocals to two best-selling albums by the Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty: City to City (1978) and Night Owl (1979). Other solo hits, including "Caravan Song" and "January February", followed for Dickson in 1980. ...

Source: Article "Barbara Dickson" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known For

  • Band of Gold
  • The Missing Postman

Filmography

2020
2019
2018
Jeremy Vine (TV Series) · as Self - Panellist
2016
The Real Marigold Hotel (TV Series) · as Self
2010
Pointless Celebrities (TV Series) · as Self - Contestant
2006
The ONE Show (TV Series) · as Self
2004
Strictly - It Takes Two (TV Series) · as Self
2003
2002
Today with Des and Mel (TV Series) · as Self
2000
BBC Breakfast (TV Series) · as Self - Singer And Actress
1999
Loose Women (TV Series) · as Self
1999
1997
Harry Hill (TV Series) · as Self
1996
Never Mind the Buzzcocks (TV Series) · as Self
1996
An Evening with Lily Savage · as Self - Audience Member
1994
Ready Steady Cook (TV Series) · as Self
1994
Wipeout (TV Series) · as Self - Special Guest
1989
Kelly (TV Series) · as Self
1988
This Morning (TV Series) · as Self
1987
The Ronnie Corbett Show (TV Series) · as Self
1982
Countdown (TV Series) · as Self - Dictionary Corner
1982
Wogan (TV Series) · as Self
1982
Champs-Elysees (TV Series) · as Self
1982
No 73 (TV Series) · as Self
1981
Bananas (TV Series) · as Self
1978
Blankety Blank (TV Series) · as Self
1978
3-2-1 (TV Series) · as Self - Guest Star
1978
Cheggers Plays Pop (TV Series) · as Self
1978
The South Bank Show (TV Series) · as Self
1976
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (TV Series) · as Self
1975
The Val Doonican Music Show (TV Series) · as Self
1975
Runaround (TV Series) · as Self
1974
Russell Harty Show (TV Series) · as Self
1972
The Music Shop (TV Series) · as Self
1972
Pebble Mill at One (TV Series) · as Self
1971
The Two Ronnies (TV Series) · as Self
1965
Call My Bluff (1996) (TV Series) · as Self
1964
Top of the Pops (TV Series) · as Self
1961
Songs of Praise (TV Series) · as Self - Musical Guest
1955
This is Your Life (UK) (TV Series) · as Self

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