Anne Lenner (24 December 1912 – 4 June 1997) was an English vocalist, who sang with the

British dance band British dance band is a genre of popular jazz and dance music that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called a Golden Age of British music, prior to the Second World War. Thousands of miles awa ...

s of the 1930s and 1940s. She is most closely associated with

Carroll Gibbons Carroll Richard Gibbons (January 4, 1903 – May 10, 1954) was an American-born pianist, bandleader and popular composer who made his career primarily in England during the British dance band era. Early life and career Gibbons was born an ...

and the Savoy Orpheans, a band who regularly played at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1 ...

in London, with whom she made many studio recordings. The British bands played a softer version of the

swing jazz Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

popular in the USA during the 1930s and 1940s.

Early life and education

Lenner was born Violet Green on 24 December 1912 in

Aylestone Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester in Leicestershire, England, southwest of the city centre and east of the River Soar. St Andrew's Church, Aylestone dates from the 13th century. The area around the church retains much of the former villag ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. Her father was Arthur Green, a variety performer who adopted the stage name of Tom Lenner, and toured with his wife, Florence Wright, Anne's mother. Lenner attended school locally at King Richard's Road school. Lenner had five sisters: Florence (who became Judy Shirley), Maidie, Ida, Rosa (who used the stage name Sally Rose), and Ivy (who became Shirley Lenner, and had a successful career in show business, singing with

Joe Loss Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel an ...

among others). All the sisters followed their father into show business, apart from Maidie, who married a property millionaire. Lenner also had two brothers, Herbert and Arthur. Herbert died at a young age, and Arthur went on to become a cobbler.

Career

Lenner's first stage appearance was in a family acting, singing and dancing production, billed as "Tom Lenner and his Chicks". Later, Lenner teamed up with Ida and formed "The Lenner Sisters". The two sisters performed in Leicester, with concerts at the de Montfort Hotel, singing on stage at the City Cinema, tea dances at the Palais de Danse in Belgrave Gate, and Sundays at Aylestone Boathouse. The Lenner Sisters song and dance act ended when Ida got married and started a double-act with her new husband. Her elder sister, Jud, paid for Lenner to have dancing lessons, so she could understudy Judy in a production showing at the Loughborough Theatre. Lenner began performing solo at charity shows, benefits and social clubs. She was soon heard by scouting agents, and by 1933 she was offered engagements in London. She appeared at Jack's Club and the Cabaret Club, where she had to perform with a megaphone. At another engagement in 1934, at Murray's Club in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

's Beak Street, she was heard by

bandleader

. Gibbons was so impressed with Lenner's voice that he invited her to record with his group for a

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

broadcast sponsored by

Hartley's Hartley's is a British brand of marmalades, jams and jellies. Founded by Sir William Hartley in 1871, Hartley's products are manufactured at Histon, Cambridgeshire, England. The brand was formerly owned by Premier Foods, until it was sold a ...

Jam. The story goes that the session was booked for 9:30am the next morning, but Lenner was late for what was her first really big break. Luckily, Gibbons was so keen that he booked another session with Lenner for later that day. The broadcasts were successful, and Lenner was given a three-year contract to sing with Gibbons at the

. The Savoy management initially objected to the presence of a female vocalist, but Gibbons believed in Lenner and he refused to give in. In the event, she stayed with the Carroll Gibbons band for seven years. Apart from the Hartley's Jam programme, Lenner also appeared with Gibbons in the Ovaltineys, in which she became known to millions of children as "Auntie Anne". Lenner sang with a gentle "

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

" accent, based on

received pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent of British English regarded as the Standard language, standard one, carrying the highest Prestige (sociolinguistics), social prestige, since as late as the beginning of the 2 ...

, and did not attempt to "project" her voice at the audience. With her soft pure voice, she was ideal for the typically English sounding Savoy Orpheans, and fitted in very well, becoming extremely popular not only with patrons of the Savoy, but also with the record buying public and the huge radio audiences. As a successful entertainer, she was part of the glamorous world of the rich and/or famous. Many of her dresses were designed by Colin Becke, whose sister was band vocalist Eve Becke. Lenner recalled: "My days were always very full and time flew. I was very lucky to be singing during a period of the best song writers and I think when British dance music was at its best." Her contract for the Savoy did not prevent her from recording one song with Joe Loss in 1936, or appearing with Eric Wild and his "Tea-timers", who were regularly on pre-war television from

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

. Lenner recalled having to wear green lipstick when on the embryonic TV station. In the same year, she also contributed to bandleader George Scott-Wood's "Fred and Ginger Selection" record, in which she sang "Lovely To Look At" and duetted with

Brian Lawrance Brian Vinrace Lawrance (13 August 1909 – 11 September 1983) was an Australian singer and violinist who led his own British dance band in the 1930s. He was considered one of the leading dance band vocalists, and drew a large audience on the radi ...

on "

I Won't Dance "I Won't Dance" is a song with music by Jerome Kern that has become a jazz standard. The song has two different sets of lyrics: the first written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach in 1934, and second written by Dorothy Fields (though Jimm ...

". Some of the other standards Lenner recorded, and especially enjoyed, during the 1930s were "

All The Things You Are "All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song was written for the musical '' Very Warm for May'' (1939)A Foggy Day in London Town", among others. She recorded over 150 titles with Gibbons, both with the full band and with a smaller contingent, which he called his "Boy Friends". It was with the Boy Friends that Lenner made the Hartley's Jam broadcasts mentioned above. These radio programmes were introduced by Jimmy Dyrenforth, who introduced Lenner as the "girl friend". Lenner spoke very fondly of Gibbons: "To work with, he was the most understanding, gentle and kind person. The boys respected and loved him. He was not only the boss but interested in their private lives and was a friend to all of them. Carroll's boys all looked good and were very versatile, especially

George Melachrino George Melachrino (born ''George Miltiades''; 1 May 1909 – 18 June 1965) was a musician, composer of film music, and musical director who was English born of Greek and Italian descent. He was an accomplished player of the violin, viola, oboe, ...

who played oboe, viola and sax and Reg Leopold who played violin, viola and sax. I loved singing with the full orchestra but also enjoyed sessions with The Boyfriends and the sweet trumpet of Bill Shakespeare. Through Carroll's influence, I enjoyed tremendous respect and kindness from all of them." Lenner left the Savoy Hotel in 1941 to spend more time with her husband. Nevertheless, she kept up her broadcasting and recording dates with the Savoy Orpheans. She also appeared on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio in the weekly series ''Composer Cavalcade'' with the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

directed by organist

Sidney Torch Sidney Torch MBE (born Sidney Torchinsky; 5 June 1908 – 16 July 1990) was a British pianist, cinema organist, conductor, orchestral arranger and a composer of light music. Early life Torch was born of Russian Jewish origin to a Ukrai ...

. She shared the singing spots with

Denny Dennis Denny Dennis (1 November 1913 in Derby – 2 November 1993 in Barrow-in-Furness) was a British romantic vocalist during the 1930s to the 1950s, when British dance bands were at the peak of their popularity. He was a band singer, a solo recording ...

, George Melachrino and

Sam Costa Samuel Gabriel Costa (17 June 1910 – 23 September 1981) was an English singer, entertainer and broadcaster. Initially a popular singer in the dance band era and a comic actor on the show ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh'', he was later a disc ...

, all of whom were by now in the armed forces. She was also in demand for

ENSA The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

shows and was called upon to sing at official Government functions; Lenner performed in front of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

among others. She appeared in the 1940 British comedy film ''Garrison Follies'', which also included

David Tomlinson David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (7 May 1917 – 24 June 2000) was an English stage, film and television actor, singer and comedian. Having been described as both a leading man and a character actor, he is primarily remembered for his roles wit ...

(in his film debut) and

Barry Lupino George Barry Lupino-Hook (7 January 1884 – 26 September 1962) was an English comedian and film actor, and a notable Pantomime dame. He was the brother of the actor and comedian Stanley Lupino, the father of the actress Antoinette Lupino, and ...

; on another occasion, her singing voice was dubbed for actress

Ann Todd Dorothy Ann Todd (24 January 1907 – 6 May 1993) was an English film, television and stage actress who achieved international fame when she starred in '' The Seventh Veil'' (1945). From 1949 to 1957 she was married to David Lean who directed ...

. During the war years, Lenner sang with a number of other bands, notably

Jay Wilbur James Edward Wilbur (1898–1968) was a British bandleader and prolifically recorded musician identified with and influential in the era of British dance band music. Wilbur was born Wilbur Blinco in 1898 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He ...

, Jack White,

Louis Levy Louis Levy (20 November 1894 – 18 August 1957) was an English film music director and conductor, who worked in particular on Alfred Hitchcock and Will Hay films. He was born in London and died in Slough, Berkshire. Early life As a child Louis ...

, and Frank Weir at the Astor Club, where George Shearing was in the band. She only recorded a handful of songs with these bands. She also recorded just one song with

Maurice Winnick Maurice Winnick (28 March 1902 – 26 May 1962) was an English musician and dance band leader of the British dance band era. Biography Born in Manchester, Winnick studied violin at the Manchester College of Music, where he proved to be a "chil ...

; on the other side of the record,

Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1899 – 17 April 1941) was a South African-British vocalist, crooner, and dance band guitarist who was Britain's most popular singer for most of the 1930s. He recorded upwards of 1,000 songs that were listened ...

took the vocal. Lenner also sang on broadcasts with the Stan Atkins' Band around this time. After the war, she did troop shows in Austria, Germany and Italy; one of these was with her trio, which included

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

on vocals and guitar of whom she later said: "He is a lovely man, so talented. We still keep in touch and I visit him and his wife at their lovely

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

home." Her overseas work also included

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, where she had a show at the Casino and in Paris where she sang with Bert Firman. She never sang in the USA; a tour was planned, but halted by the outbreak of the war. Back in the United Kingdom, Lenner was singing solo. She could also be found teaming up with Bob Harvey for a double-act entitled "Just The Two of Us". Lenner noticed that the entertainment world was changing, and decided to retire from show business. Her nephew, John Doyle, believed that her voice had started to fail, which may have been partly due to heavy smoking and the strain placed on her vocal cords by working without microphones during her early career. By now, her marriage to Gordon Little was over and she was looking for a new direction. Following a chance meeting with an admirer from the Savoy days, she managed to get a job as a telephonist in the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, working for the security services. Lenner produced the annual Civil Service show on several occasions.

Personal life and death

Lenner married a dance producer by the name of Piddock, whom she met while appearing in a review produced by him. They had a son, Jeffrey, who went into show business under the name of Jeffrey Lenner. Jeffery was educated at

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

but ran away to join the

Ice Follies The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, is a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie and Roy Shipstad and Oscar Johnson. In later ...

which came through town when he was in the 6th Form. Jeffrey found it difficult to obtain work after his return from Australia, where he had hosted his own television programme, and he was never able to emulate the success of his mother. Lenner attended

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

motor racing circuit during the 1930s. Around the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Lenner married for a second time, to up-and-coming actor Gordon Little, who was in the Navy, stationed at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Lenner rented a house in

Warsash Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath and south of Sarisbury. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sail ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, to be near her husband, who commanded a torpedo boat during the war, with the flotilla moored near Warsash. The couple hosted many parties in their home. Lenner and a friend, Eustace Hoey, opened the Ward Room, a club in

Curzon Street Curzon Street is a street in Mayfair, London, within the W1J postcode district, that ranges from Fitzmaurice Place, past Shepherd Market, to Park Lane. It is named after Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baronet, who inherited the landholding during ...

, London especially for Gordon, so he and his Navy friends had somewhere to go on their visits to London. The couple's marriage did not last for long after the war, however. There were no children, and Lenner did not marry again. After her retirement, Lenner lived for many years in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

, north London, in an uncomfortable flat opposite Edgware station. She spent a lot of her later years caring for her mother, who died at 102 years of age. Despite her previously glamorous life, Lenner never complained about her reduced circumstances in her later years. During the 1970s and 1980s, she worked for Post Office Telephones (now BT Plc) at their Sales offices in 6-7 Clifford Street,

Mayfair, London Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts in ...

and in 77 Oxford Street, London, she made a live broadcast for the BBC from the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, London during the late 1970s and retired from

British Telecom BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

in the 1980s. Lenner died at the age of 84, on 4 June 1997, at

Barnet Hospital Barnet Hospital is a District General Hospital, district general hospital situated in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, in North London. It is managed by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital has its origins in the Wellhouse Hospital wh ...

. Gibbons' widow Joan recalls, "Anne was a marvellous raconteur, a very quick brain and with a strong sense of humour. She once told me that she would have liked to have been a comedienne. She suffered from failing eyesight towards the end of her life and found it difficult to get around."

Films

* ''

Garrison Follies ''Garrison Follies'' is a 1940 British comedy film, comedy musical revue film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Barry Lupino, Nancy O'Neil and H.F. Maltby. It was produced by the independent film, independent Butcher's Film ServiceMackenzie ...

'' (1940)

References

* * * *

External links

*
annelenner.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenner, Anne 1912 births 1997 deaths Traditional pop music singers Brooklands people British women in World War II Cultural history of World War II English jazz singers People from Edgware People from Aylestone Musicians from Leicestershire 20th-century English singers British women jazz singers 20th-century English women singers Singers from the London Borough of Barnet