Wynne Ajello (born Winifred Alice Cutter Gellard; 9 January 1903 – 18 April 1992) was an English

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

singer who made many broadcasts on

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

between the 1920s and 1940s. She was born in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, London, the daughter of a piano teacher who later married into the Ajello family, originally of Italian origin. She developed a talent for singing, and won a children's singing competition. She made her first BBC broadcasts in 1925, singing a selection of

coloratura Coloratura ( , , ; , from ''colorata'', the past participle of the verb ''colorare'', 'to color') is a passage of music holding elaboration to a melody. The elaboration usually takes the form of runs, trills, wide leaps or other virtuoso ma ...

aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

s, but diversified into also performing songs from musical

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

s. Search, Wynne Ajello, ''Radio Times'', BBC Genome
Retrieved 15 March 2021"Wynne Ajello", Wills cigarette card, ''Pages of Ages''
Retrieved 15 March 2021 Ajello made recordings for the

Durium Durium is a highly durable synthetic resin developed in 1929. It was used in phonograph records, as well as in the casting process for metallic type and in the aeronautics industry. Origin It is a resorcinol-formaldehyde resin, the result o ...

label. In 1933, she made her first television broadcasts, singing as part of the White Coons concert party, directed by Harry S. Pepper, but then took a lengthy break after a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. "Saved by an Ancient Relic", ''Morning Tribune'', Singapore, 19 August 1936, p.13
/ref> By 1936, it was reported that she had made over 550 broadcasts for the BBC. In 1938, she took the role of

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

in the radio adaptation of the Disney cartoon feature.

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

, ''The Golden Age of Radio'', B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, , p.10 She continued to feature in BBC broadcasts through the

Second World War 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 ...

, into the late 1940s. She married her stepbrother, Reginald Ajello, in 1929. She died in

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

, Sussex, in 1992, aged 89.

References

1903 births 1992 deaths English sopranos {{UK-singer-stub