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CaptainWaggett
is gloomy no more
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The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography speaks
Quote:
Valentine, Dickie [real name Richard Bryce] (1929–1971), singer and impressionist
by Derek B. Scott
© Oxford University Press 2004–8 All rights reserved
Valentine, Dickie [real name Richard Bryce] (1929–1971), singer and impressionist, was born at St Pancras, London, on 4 November 1929, the son of a lorry driver. At the age of three he appeared in the film Jack's the Boy, starring Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge. At fourteen he became a page-boy at Manchester's Palace Theatre, a role he repeated for a while at the London Palladium before being sacked for cheekiness. So he must have found it satisfying when he found himself topping the bill at the Palladium in his mid-twenties.
Bryce was able to take a course of singing lessons through the generosity of the Canadian stage star Bill O'Connor, who met Bryce while he was working as a backstage call-boy at Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket. He honed his craft performing as a featured singer with the big bands that were so popular during and after the war, and it was when he joined Ted Heath's band on St Valentine's day in 1949 that he conceived the idea for his stage surname. His rise to fame took place in the early 1950s when he became a romantic idol; so huge was his fan club that, for its annual meeting of 1957, the Royal Albert Hall was booked and filled to capacity. On 27 October 1954 he married Elizabeth Flynn (b. 1932/3), daughter of John Flynn, an engineer of Regent Street, London. At this point he was at the height of his success; that same year he released his first number one hit record, ‘Finger of Suspicion’ (jointly written by Paul Mann and Al Lewis). His subsequent acclaim led to his being invited to appear on television in the USA, on such shows as those of Eddie Fisher and Ed Sullivan. He had a number of other chart hits with Decca records, including another number one in 1955 with ‘Christmas Alphabet’, written by Buddy Kaye (with Jules Loman's collaboration). From then on he was eclipsed by the craze for rock and roll. A brief flirtation with this genre in 1956, Dickie Valentine's Rock 'n' Roll Party Medley, proved unsuccessful—it was, indeed, something he himself described as the biggest ‘clanger’ he had ever dropped. In 1959 he signed to Pye, where his recording manager was Tony Hatch, and in that year enjoyed his last top twenty hit with ‘One More Sunrise’.
Valentine had always possessed another string to his bow, however, and that was his talent for impressions: these included a melodramatic Al Jolson, an operatic Mario Lanza, and a lachrymose Johnny Ray. Being himself a singer with no gimmicks or obvious mannerisms, he was keenly alert to the idiosyncrasies of others. He was given his own show on Independent Television in 1966. His first marriage, from which there were two children, ended in divorce in 1967, and on 1 June 1968 he married Wendy Ann Wayne, née Cook (b. 1943/4), an actress.
During this period Valentine began to fade from the media spotlight, although he remained in demand as a cabaret artist, and received invitations and bookings from clubs throughout the world. Early in 1971 he made a tour of Australia. However, on 6 May that year he was killed while returning from performing at a club in Wales, after the car in which he was travelling struck a bridge support at Glangrwyney, Brecknockshire. His pianist, Syd Boatman, and drummer, Dave Pearson, were also fatally injured in the same accident.
Valentine was of stocky build and possessed a winning smile. His singing style was notable for having a wider dynamic range than that associated with the typical dance band crooner. His controlled legato and well-shaped musical phrases in romantic ballads were enhanced by a velvety vocal timbre. He was admired for his warm and sincere personality and, in the narrow confines and hothouse atmosphere of the recording studio, was appreciated for his co-operative, modest, and professional manner.
DEREK B. SCOTT
Sources The Times (7 May 1971) · C. Larkin, ed., The encyclopedia of popular music, 3rd edn (1998), 5597–8 · Biographies- UK 45rpm Artists [UK artists biography index] · T. Hatch and B. Gladwell, Crescendo International, 9/3 (June 1971) · Variety, 262/230 (12 May 1971) · Melody Maker, 46/4 (15 May 1971) · m. certs. · d. cert.
Likenesses photograph, repro. in Hatch and Gladwell, Crescendo International, 3
Wealth at death £55,365: probate, 17 Aug 1971, CGPLA Eng. & Wale
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11-04-2008, 05:32 PM
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