Bernadette Therese Doneathy (; 17 October 1960 – 4 July 2013) was an Irish actress, singer and television personality, formerly

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

of the girl group

the Nolans The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group formed in Blackpool in 1974, originally known as the Nolan Sisters. They changed their name to The Nolans in 1980. Between 1979 and 1982, they enjoyed a string of hit singles, including ''I'm in the M ...

. She was the second youngest of sisters

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, Denise, Maureen, Linda and Coleen. From the age of two, Bernie was brought up in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. The Nolans began in 1974 and went on to have seven UK Top 20 hits, including " I'm in the Mood for Dancing" (1979), "Gotta Pull Myself Together" (1980) and "Attention to Me" (1981). They won the 1981 Tokyo Music Festival with "Sexy Music". Bernie left the group in 1995 to become an actress. On television, she had roles in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

soap opera '' Brookside'' from 2000 to 2002 and the ITV police drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' from 2002 to 2005, while her numerous roles in stage musicals included Mrs. Johnstone in '' Blood Brothers'' (1998–2000), Hannah Owens in '' Flashdance: The Musical'' (2008–2009) and Mama Morton in ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' (2012). She was also a member of the Nolans line-up that reformed for a successful tour of the UK and Ireland in 2009. She died from

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

in July 2013.

Early life and career

Nolan was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1960, the seventh of eight children born to Tommy and Maureen Nolan. The Nolan family moved from Dublin to Blackpool in 1962 and began performing as the Singing Nolans. In 1974, the sisters formed the Nolan Sisters, later shortened to

and made their TV debut that year on

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

's show, ''It's Cliff Richard''. In 1975, they supported

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

on his European tour. In 1979, they released their biggest hit " I'm in the Mood for Dancing", which reached number three in the UK and was the first of seven top twenty hits. The others, with Bernie Nolan usually singing lead vocals, were "Don't Make Waves", (1980) "Gotta Pull Myself Together" (1980), "Who's Gonna Rock You" (1980), "Attention to Me" (1981), "Chemistry" (1981) and "Don't Love Me Too Hard" (1982). The Nolans sold millions of recordings worldwide, particularly in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where they sold over nine million albums and won the 1981 Tokyo Music Festival with the song "Sexy Music". Bernie also composed songs during this time, when she wrote two tracks for their 1982 album ''Portrait''. In 1991, the group won of the 33rd Japan Record Awards for

Cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Japanese pops.

Acting

Nolan first acted as a cast member on the BBC Saturday morning children's show ''

On the Waterfront ''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning and Eva Marie Saint in her film de ...

''. Critics positively reviewed her gift for comedy. The Nolan sisters and their music were a running gag on the show, and Bernie was joined by her sisters for a musical performance during at least one episode. Bernie left the group in 1995 to concentrate on her own acting career, which began with her 1993 performance in the stage play, ''The Devil Rides Out''. She played Mrs. Johnstone in Willy Russell's '' Blood Brothers'' in the UK tour for over two years. She was the first of four Nolan sisters to have played the role, being followed by Denise, Linda and then Maureen. For this, the sisters earned a place in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

as the most siblings to play the same role at different times in a professional production. In 2000, Nolan joined the cast of

's soap opera '' Brookside'' as Diane Murray after being noticed by Paul Marquess whilst starring in ''Blood Brothers''. She left Brookside in 2002 when her character was killed off. She then went on to play Sheelagh Murphy in ITV's police drama series ''

'', in which she starred until 2005. In 2006, Nolan took part in Channel 4's series '' The Games''. Her stint on the game was to raise money for charity, including Alzheimer's and children's charities. In 2007, she starred in the play ''Mum's the Word'', playing the character 'Robin' which she reprised in the 2008 tour (alongside her sister, Maureen who played Jill) and once again in 2010. During the summer season of 2007, Bernie appeared at the Blackpool North Pier Theatre in her own production, Soap Queens (And Kings!)''.'' In 2008, Nolan appeared in the UK touring production of '' Flashdance the Musical'' for over a year, playing Hannah Owens. In January and February 2010, she participated in the ITV celebrity reality television programme '' Popstar to Operastar'', reaching the final, where she lost to

Darius Campbell Darius Campbell Danesh (19 August 1980 – 11 August 2022) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, actor and film producer. He first came to prominence as Darius Danesh when he appeared in the first series of ''Popstars'' in 2001, and the 2002 inaug ...

. In 2012, she appeared as Mama Morton, in the UK tour of the musical ''

''.

Return to singing

Nolan released the single "

Macushla "Macushla" is the title of an Irish song that was copyrighted in 1910, with music by Dermot Macmurrough ( Harold R. White) and lyrics by Josephine V. Rowe. The title is a anglicization of ''mo chuisle'', an Irish term of endearment meaning "my ...

" in 2004 with the proceeds going to charity. It peaked at No. 38 in the UK Singles Chart in March 2004. Regarding this release,

Lorraine Kelly Lorraine Kelly (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV and STV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), ''GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003–2005, ...

wrote: "I wouldn't have expected anything else from one of the hardest working women in showbiz". In 2005, she released her debut solo album, ''All By Myself''. The album consists mainly of power ballads, including the song "Better Place", written by Nolan's husband in memory of their daughter, Kate, who was

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

in 1998. In 2009, four of the Nolan sisters, Bernie, Coleen, Linda and Maureen, reformed for a successful 23-date tour of the UK and Ireland. To coincide with the tour, they released an album, '' I'm in the Mood Again'', which reached No. 22 in the

UK Album Charts The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Offici ...

Personal life

Nolan married drummer Steve Doneathy in 1996, in Lancashire. The couple lived in St Anne's on Sea, Lancashire and later in Weybridge, Surrey. In 1998 she gave birth to their daughter who was stillborn and another daughter in 1999. Bernie had previously been in a relationship with Bradley Walsh.

Illness and death

On 23 April 2010, it was announced that Nolan was suffering from

. In October 2010, she stated that she was cancer-free after having undergone

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and a

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have ...

and was taking

herceptin Trastuzumab, sold under the brand name Herceptin among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat breast cancer and stomach cancer. It is specifically used for cancer that is HER2 receptor positive. It may be used by itself or together w ...

. In February 2012, she announced that she was no longer taking cancer treatment drugs and was completely free of cancer. At the end of October 2012, Nolan announced that the cancer had returned and had

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...

ed to her brain, lungs, liver and bones. Nolan died in her sleep, at her home in Surrey, on 4 July 2013, aged 52. Nolan's funeral service was held on 17 July 2013 at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool and she was later cremated at Carleton Crematorium. Her ashes were then buried alongside those of her stillborn daughter.

Discography

Studio Albums

EPs and mini-albums

Singles

Works

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Bernie 1960 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Irish actresses 21st-century Irish actresses Deaths from breast cancer in England Deaths from lung cancer in England Deaths from brain cancer in England Deaths from liver cancer in England Deaths from bone cancer in England 21st-century Irish autobiographers 20th-century Irish women singers Irish sopranos Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Irish television actresses Irish television personalities Musicians from Blackpool Actresses from County Dublin Sony Music Publishing artists Irish women autobiographers Musicians from County Dublin Broadcasters from County Dublin People from Weybridge 21st-century Irish women singers The Nolans members