Priscilla Maria Veronica White OBE (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress, television presenter, and author.
Probably best known for the hit songs "You're My World" and "Anyone Who Had a Heart".
Life Events
Cilla (White) Black OBE has Irish ancestors.
Priscilla Maria Veronica White was born on 27 May 1943, in the Vauxhall district of Liverpool, Lancashire, England, the daughter of John Patrick White and Priscilla Blythen, with the event being registered in the 2nd Quarter at Liverpool South.[1] Her Irish roots come from her several-greats-grandparents, however, her maternal grandfather, Joseph Henry Blythen, was born in the Welsh town of Wrexham, and several others of her ancestors were also Welsh-born.
Raised Roman Catholic, she grew up in the Scotland Road area of Vauxhall, attending St Anthony's school there. Later she was to gain office skills at the Anfield Commercial College. Her dream, however, was to be an entertainer, and so she obtained employment as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpool's Cavern Club – known for its association with The Beatles. Impromptu performers impressed her audiences (including The Beatles), so while she waited for her "big break" she took a job as awaitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge. It was at the Zodiac she was to meet her future husband (and manager) Robert "Bobby" Willis, whom she married at Marylebone Town Hall in January 1969.[2] They were to remain married for 30 years until he died from cancer in 1999.
During the 1970s, she hosted a television show, Cilla, on the BBC, and also hosted the television programs Blind Date and Surprise, Surprise.
Priscilla Maria Veronica Willis née White, known professionally as Cilla Black, died from a stroke on 1 August 2015 in her holiday home in the Spanish town of Estepona, aged 72 years. It was later confirmed that the stroke, causing a subarachnoid haemorrhage, had been the result of a fall.
After a funeral service at St Mary's church, Wooton, where Cliff Richard sang, and Paul O'Grady delivered a eulogy, she was buried in a private ceremony at Allerton Cemetery in Allerton.[3]
On 21 August 2015, the day after her funeral, The Very Best of Cilla Black, a compilation album of her most popular songs in her career, went to number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was Black's first number one album.
Awards and Honours
Appointed OBE for services to entertainment in the 1997 New Year Honours.
In 2013 she celebrated her 50th year in show business and was honored by the British network ITV with a television special.
In 2014, she was the recipient of the British Academy Television Awards' Special Award and the first Royal Television Society Legends Award in honour of her 50 years in entertainment.
In 2017, a statue of Cilla, commissioned by her sons, was unveiled outside the Cavern Club's original entrance as the venue celebrated its 60th anniversary. "The sculpture shows a young Cilla performing one of her early songs and the design of her dress on the statue features images of her legendary career." The statue divided Liverpudlians owing to Cilla Black's support of the Conservative Party and admiration for Margaret Thatcher.
Sources
↑Birth Registration — "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVQ5-JZGX : 1 October 2014), Priscilla White, 1943; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Liverpool South, Lancashire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
↑Marriage Registration:
"England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005"
General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 5d; Page: 1573 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record ONSmarriage1984 #43980607 (accessed 15 February 2023)
Priscilla M White marriage to Robert Willis registered Jan-Feb-Mar 1969 in St. Marylebone.
↑Burial — Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 23 December 2020), memorial page for Cilla Black (27 May 1943–1 Aug 2015), Find A Grave: Memorial #150102652, citing Allerton Cemetery, Allerton, Metropolitan Borough of Liverpool, Merseyside, England ; Maintained by Find A Grave.
Birth — England & Wales Births 1837-2006 (FindMyPast, http://www.findmypast.com : accessed 8 December 2020) database entry for White, Priscilla (Mother's maiden name: Blythen, GRO Reference: Q2 in 1943, District: Liverpool South, Volume: 8B, Page: 15).
Visit to Australia: "No Turning Back for Cilla Black," Sydney Morning Herald, Thur. 12 Apr 1979, page 12 Google Newspapers
Obituary: "U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current" The Island Packet; Publication Date: 3 Aug 2015; Publication Place: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA; URL: newspapers.com\ (requires subscription) [https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=61843&h=935274794 Ancestry Record 61843 #935274794 (accessed 15 February 2023) Name: Cilla Black; Gender: Female; Death Age: 72; Birth Date: abt 1943; Birth Place: Liverpool Northwest England; Residence Place: Beatles-Era Liverpool; Death Date: Abt 2015; Death Place: Estepona; Obituary Date: 3 Aug 2015; Obituary Place: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA; Newspaper Title: The Island Packet.
Youtube: Cilla Black May 1964 Performance: You're My World and (Love Is Like A) Heatwave. (Of interest : at the beginning of the video – during the introduction – all four Beatles can be seen applauding; and again at the end of the first song before she starts singing "Heatwave".)
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