Diana Dors was born Diana Mary Fluck on 23 October 1931, and was an English actress who cast very much in the role of the British blonde bombshell to rival Americans stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van Doren. From the age of eight, Hollywood actresses Veronica Lake, Lana Turner, and Jean Harlow became her heroines, and she enjoyed going to the cinema to watch them. Towards the end of the war she entered a beauty contest to find a pin-up girl for Soldier Magazine and she came in third place, which led her to work as a model in art classes, and she began to appear in such local theatre productions as 'A Weekend In Paris' and 'Death Takes A Holiday'. Her screen debut was in the noir film 'The Shop at Sly Corner' in 1947, and it was while signing the contract with the studio that she changed her name to Dors, after her maternal grandmother. She later joked that it was because "the studio were afraid that if her real name of Diana Fluck was in lights and one of the lights blew ...". At the age of 15, Dors signed a contract with the Rank Organisation, and joined J. Arthur Rank's "Charm School" for young actors, subsequently appearing in many of their films. Rank promoted her to leading roles in 1949's 'Diamond City', the story of a boom town in South Africa in 1870. In April 1952 she appeared in a stage revue with Wally Chrisham, 'Rendezvous', which eventually made it to London, and a review in Variety said that she made the "only noteworthy contribution" to the play, which ultimately only had a short run. In March 1953, Dors did a cabaret act in Glasgow, and she began touring a variety act, and performed variations of this act throughout her career.
This also led to a 78rpm single being released in 1953, with the suggestive 'I Feel So Mmm...' as the A-side, but despite the record showing that she had a fine singing voice, it was to be seven years before she signed a record deal with Pye Records, and recorded the now much praised 'Swingin' Dors' album. A couple of singles were released from it, and then another three year gap ensued, while she continued her film career, and branched out into acting on TV shows, such as 'Burke's Law' and 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'. Her recording career continued sporadically, with new records coming out in 1964 and 1966, but by 1968 she was appearing in the stage musicals 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' and 'Doctor Doolittle'. From 1970 to 1972 Dors starred in three series of the UK TV sitcom 'Queenie's Castle' as the titular Queenie, and during this period she also appeared in episodes of UK dramas 'Z Cars', 'Dixon Of Dock Green', 'Just William', 'The Sweeney', 'Hammer House Of Horror', and 'Shoestring'. She released another single in 1977, followed four years later by her last recording 'Where Did They Go' in 1981. Unusually for a recording artist of her fame, her musical career spanned 30 years and yet only consisted of seven singles, but as there were cast recordings issued of the two musicals that she starred in, we also have examples of her theatre work to add to those 45's. So here is a summary of the musical career of one of the most glamourous British film stars of the 40's, 50's and 60's, and I don't think I'll be the only person to remark on what a surprise it is to find out what a fine voice she had.
Track listing
01 I Feel So Mmm... (single 1953)
02 A Kiss And A Cuddle (And A Few Kind Words From You) (b-side of 'I Feel So Mmm...')
03 So Little Time (single 1964)
04 It's Too Late (b-side of 'So Little Time')
05 Security (single 1966)
06 Garry (b-side of 'Security')
07 Do It Again (from the cast recording of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' 1968)
08 Jazz Baby (from the cast recording of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' 1968)
09 At The Crossroads (from the cast recording of 'Doctor Dolittle' 1968)
10 Fabulous Places (from the cast recording of 'Doctor Dolittle' 1968)
11 I Think I Like You (from the cast recording of 'Doctor Dolittle' 1968)
12 Passing By (single 1977)
13 It's A Small World (b-side of 'Passing By')
14 Where Did They Go (single 1981)
15 It's You Again (b-side of 'Where Did They Go' as Diana & Gary Dors)
