Susie Mathis (born Susan Mathis; 29 April 1947) is a former

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and

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presenter who, in later years, became a

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for Francis House Children's Hospice, and many other charities in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

Music and television career

Mathis first appeared in the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

at the age of fifteen and came to fame in March 1968, using the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

'Tiger', as the lead singer of the

Paper Dolls ''Paper Dolls'' is an American primetime television soap opera that aired for 14 episodes on ABC from September 23 to December 25, 1984. Set in New York's fashion industry, the show centered on top modeling agency owner Racine (Morgan Fairchild) ...

. They reached number 8 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

with " Something Here in My Heart (Keeps A Tellin' Me No)". The Paper Dolls toured widely and topped the bill in many UK cabaret venues, but further record success eluded them and, following some changes of personnel, they split up in early 1975. Mathis also released three

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ' ...

singles under the name 'Tiger Sue'. She recorded with The Maddisons and Colorado, and also took part in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

and made television appearances including ''

Top Of The Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

''. Cherry Red released a Paper Dolls special CD celebrating 50 years since their first release.

Radio and television

As well as appearing as an artist on the show, Susie presented ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' on two occasions and fronted the

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

Friday night show ''Weekend.'' She also voiced many TV adverts, such as the ''Say the Leeds and your smiling'', ''Wake up to Magnet'' and ''Southern'' campaigns. Mathis joined the local

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

independent radio Independent radio indicates a radio station that is run in a manner different from usual for the country it broadcasts in. In countries where there exist government-run radio stations that served as the primary or only the variety of licensed broa ...

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, Piccadilly Radio in 1979, and in 1981 became the first female daytime presenter on independent radio. She later joined

BBC Radio Manchester BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

and twice won the Sony Radio Personality of the Year Award. During the

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

lockdown, Susie volunteered to present a show a week for six months for WFM. At the end of 2021, she was seen as one of the talking heads (alongside other music experts, such as Paul Gambaccini, David Grant and Katie Puckrik) on Channel 5's year-by-year pop music countdown series ''Britain's Biggest 70s Hits'', and in 2022 was seen on the channel's subsequent Friday night music series ''80s Greatest Pop Videos''.

Charity work and activism

Mathis has also been at the forefront of fundraising for

Francis House The Ven. Francis Harry House OBE MA was Archdeacon of Macclesfield from 1967 to 1978. Born into an ecclesiastical family on 9 August 1908, he was educated at St George's School, Harpenden and Wadham College, Oxford and ordained after a period of ...

, a children's hospice in

, helping to raise £5 million for the cause. Mathis herself was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

in 2004. As part of the fundraising effort, the 1975 formation of the Paper Dolls reformed for a one-off concert in Bradford in March 2008. Mathis had worked with Kirsty Howard, a 12-year-old fundraiser, who for the night became the Paper Dolls' unofficial fourth member when she sang with them on stage.Dianne Bourne
Dolly good show for Kirsty
''Manchester Evening News'', 17 April 2010 (Updated 12 January 2013) Subsequently, in 2009, Mathis became a charity manager, working for Mohammed Al Fayed. She has been organising the Warrington Business Awards for several years.

Solo discography

As Tiger Sue

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Susie 1947 births Living people Singers from London English radio DJs Mathis, Susie British radio presenters British women radio presenters