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Jeannie Bradbury (born Jessie Lorenza Jean Bradbury; 30 October 1917 – 15 June 1967), sometimes referred to as Jean Bradbury, was a British
Bradbury subsequently appeared with Parry on a series of shows throughout the 1940s on BBC radio broadcasts including ''Late Night Dancing'', ''Dancing Til Midnight'', and ''Harry Parry''. She was sometimes billed simply as Jean Bradbury in radio listings and on recordings.
In addition to a long-term residency at the London nightclub and restaurant Potomac at 40 Jermyn Street (today the location of
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
singer, best known for her appearances on BBC radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
during the later years of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and into the 1950s, and for her association with the Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
clarinetist
This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet.
Classical clarinetists
* Laver Bariu
* Ernest Ačkun
* Luís Afonso
* Cristiano Alves
* Michel Arrignon
* Dimitri Ashkenazy
* Kinan Azmeh
* Alexander Bader
* Carl Baermann
* ...
and band leader Harry Parry
Harry Owen Parry (22 January 1912 – 18 October 1956) was a Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader.
Biography
Parry was born in Bangor, Wales. He played cornet, tenor horn, flugelhorn, drums, and violin as a child, and began on clarinet a ...
, whom she married in 1945.
Biography
Jeannie was born inWandsworth, London
Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Toponymy
Wandsworth takes its n ...
, the daughter of Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
performer George Bradbury (known by the stage name George Sanford of the comedy team Sanford and Lyons) and his second wife Lorenza MacLennan.
Bradbury's first recorded broadcast for the BBC was in a General Forces Programme called ''I'll Play To You'' on Tuesday 9 August 1944, alongside Stéphane Grappelly and Robin Richmond
Robin Richmond (21 April 1912 – 27 July 1998) was an English cinema organist and BBC Radio presenter and performer.
Richmond was born on 21 April 1912 in London. His father was a doctor. William Stephenson Richmond, his mother was Barbara Ha ...
, but got a break on the BBC feature ''Songs From The Shows'' while deputizing for Anne Ziegler
Anne Ziegler (22 June 1910 – 13 October 2003) was an English singer, known for her light operatic duets with her husband Webster Booth. The pair were known as the "Sweethearts in Song" and were among the most famous and popular British musica ...
. The musician Harry Parry, who was present for the broadcast, thought her to be a potential vocalist for his sextet.
Bradbury subsequently appeared with Parry on a series of shows throughout the 1940s on BBC radio broadcasts including ''Late Night Dancing'', ''Dancing Til Midnight'', and ''Harry Parry''. She was sometimes billed simply as Jean Bradbury in radio listings and on recordings.
In addition to a long-term residency at the London nightclub and restaurant Potomac at 40 Jermyn Street (today the location of Tramp
A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round.
Etymology
Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...
), Bradbury sang with the Harry Parry Sextet in variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
at the London Hippodrome
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Cranbourn Street and Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survi ...
, the Metropolitan Music Hall and throughout the English provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
. The couple toured the world, playing venues in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, the Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
and beyond.
In 1955 Parry filed for divorce in a highly publicized case, citing Bradbury's infidelity with the left-wing writer Frederic Mullally
Frederic Mullally (25 February 1918 – 7 September 2014) was a British journalist, public relations executive, and novelist. He was born in London.
Career
Mullally's journalism career began in India where, from 1937 to 1949, he was sub-editor ...
—a prominent member of the inner-circle of Stephen Ward
Stephen Thomas Ward (19 October 1912 – 3 August 1963) was an English osteopath and artist who was one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British political scandal which brought about the resignation of John Profumo, the Sec ...
, a central figure in the Profumo scandal
The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler begi ...
which brought down the British government in 1963.
Harry Parry died alone in his Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
flat in October 1956, a few months after their divorce was finalized. The marriage produced no children.
Jeannie, whose career never recovered following the divorce scandal, married the shipbroker Michael Misroch in 1966, but died a year later from various forms of cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
.
References