Shirley Abicair (born 26 October 1930) is an Australian-born singer, musician, television personality, actress and author. In the 1950s and 60s, she was probably best known as an exponent of the zither.

Early life

Shirley Abicair was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, Australia. Some sources show her year of birth as 1935, but a contemporary account shows she was 23 or 24 on arrival in the UK and, as she had completed tertiary studies in Australia, the earlier date seems more likely. She was the only daughter of a Wing Commander in the RAAF.

Education

Abicair resided in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

prior to pursuing studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and/or Sydney University (as with her year of birth, accounts differ), where she studied philosophy, languages and the arts. She sang in undergraduate revues.

Career

While studying in Sydney, Abicair began singing at parties and private functions to support her studies, accompanying herself on the zither. Self-taught, she is said to have found the zither whilst rummaging in a cupboard as a small child. She then entered and won a Sydney radio talent quest. This led to offers of engagements on radio and in theatre and cabaret. Abicair, a typist, became popular in Sydney in the late 1940s. Around 1952, Abicair left Sydney for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She was photographed by a newspaper photographer looking for pretty faces while disembarking at London Airport. Her photo was spotted by a radio producer in the newspaper and within weeks this led to her appearing on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

. Not much later that year she had her own programme in which she sang and played the zither. In December, she also appeared in the title role of the pantomime ''Cinderella'' with George Martin, the Casual Comedian, at the Empress Theatre in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

. The zither was, along with her Australian-ness, to become her trademark. She released her first record "Careless Love" that year. In 1953 the Empire theatre in Nottingham billed her as "TV's zither girl". In this period, she co-starred with comedian Norman Wisdom in the film '' One Good Turn'' (1955). In 1956, Abicair recorded (produced by George Martin, later known for his work with the Beatles) the title song for the soundtrack of the Australian film '' Smiley''. On 26 March 1956, Abicair appeared on BBC TV ''Off The Record''. Through the middle/late 1950s she hosted (with help from her puppet friends, Australian indigenous children, Tea Cup and Clothespeg), a series called ''Children's Hour'', a children's TV show. In the process, she became an unofficial ambassador and promoter of Australia to a generation of British children. This Australian image was reinforced by her release of records with titles such as "(I Love You) Fair Dinkum" and "Botany Bay". Her rendering of the Australian folk song ''Little Boy Fishing off a Wooden Pier'', released in 1956, become a regular on the BBCs Children's Favourites request program. In 1959 she returned to Australia briefly to record a series of television documentary films she had conceived, based on Australian folk songs, entitled '' Shirley Abicair in Australia'', for the Australian ABC TV network. Abicair accepted a request to perform at The Variety Club of Great Britain eighth annual Star Gala at the Festival Gardens, Battersea Park, London, Saturday 13 May 1961. In 1962, she toured the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and in the same year, she gave a recital at the Festival Hall in London. Later that year in October she visited the United States for performances. It was in 1962 as well that her children's book, ''Tales of Tumbarumba'' was published. In June 1963, in the US, she appeared with the

Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers were the American duo of brothers Tom Smothers, Tom and Dick Smothers, who performed folk singer, folk singing, music, and comedy. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on Steel-string guitar, a ...

on Hootenanny and the panel game show ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'', with Cicely Tyson on 25 March 1963. In December, for ABC Australia, she appeared on ''Comedy Bandbox''. In 1965, Abicair's EP, "''On the Nursery Beat''", was released. It was a number of nursery rhymes put to a Mersey beat. During 1965 she did a tour with British comedian

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of a soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

to entertain the personnel of and 848 Naval Air Squadron, at Sibu airfield, Malaysia, and other British forces stationed on the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

and in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, during the unrest there. This tour was filmed and later released as a TV special "''East of Howerd''". During 1966–67 she released a number of more mature songs on record including her version of the Gerry Goffin–

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

song "So Goes Love'" and

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

's "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall". She had previously, in the early 1960s, released three albums of folk songs.Theodora Bynon, 'London's Name', ''Transactions of the Philological Society'', 114:3 (2016), 281–97, doi: 10.1111/1467-968X.12064. Abicair joined up with harmonica player Larry Adler in 1968 to do a children's theatre show. She began her own one-woman theatre show in 1969 at the Arts Theatre in London. In 1971, Abicair moved to

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the United States, where she appeared in a series of college concerts with the American writer

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...

. Abicair currently (2002–2007) lives in London and divides her time between Britain, the US and Australia.

Bibliography

*Australian Encyclopedia – Sixth Edition – 1996 – Vol. 1 – Pub: Australian Geographic Society – *Sleeve Notes from LP – "Shirley Abicair Sings Songs From Many Lands" – 1960 * Tales of Tumbarumba London; Max Parrish, 1962 Illustrated by Margaret Cilento

References

External links