The Portsmouth Music Scene
Audrey Jeans, singer comedienne

Audrey Jeans, Singer, dancer, comedienne Daughter of Portsmouth Dockyard Worker Born 27th July 1929 as Audrey Jennings, at Riga Terrace, Portsmouth Audrey Jeans?- I remember seeing her at the Princess Theatre in Torquay. She was in summer season with Frankie Vaughan and Roy Hudd in 1966. I was only six at the time but I am sure I recall her singing the song,"One Of those songs that you hear now and then." It's almost a year since your post, so you may well have already discovered the answer. Audrey was hit by a car while crossiing a road in France. She was on honeymoon with her second husband. The couple were returning to their accomodation after dinner. Audrey was killed. Her husband was seriously injured, but recovered. The year was around 1979. Right up to that time, Audrey was still performing. I was priviledged to have known Audrey for a few years in my late teens and very early twenties. As you would expect, she had a wonderful sense of humour. She was also intelligent, warm, vivacious, generous and practical. Audrey has an entry in Roy Hudd's book Cavalcade of Variety Acts. He says that she was born at Portsmouth in 1930 and was indeed tragically killed just after her second marriage. I read elsewhere that the year was 1980. I am Audrey Jean's granddaughter and I found this discussion in passing. I just wanted to say that I am so proud and amazingly happy to see that people are still remebering my Grandma and her work. I never got to meet her as she tragicaly died before any of my sisters or I were born, but my mum says I'm just like her! I know it makes my mum very happy as well to see that people still remember her mother fondly. So thank you guys, for enquiring about her whereabouts. I wish she was still here and that I had been able to see her work, she has always been my greatest inspiration to go into theatre. Love you forever Grandma Audrey Laura xxx p.s if anyone knows of any books or pictures she is referenced in I would greatly appreciate the links. there is so little memrobilia from her. She was in summer season with Frankie Vaughan and Roy Hudd in 1966. All rather sad in retrospect, with Frankie another great loss (same goes for bhowells and Euryale, who may never come back). I have never accepted the fact that when stars die, or fade away like Kathy Kirby and Ken Goodwin, they are quickly forgotten and always try my best to raise and maintain their profiles. I have a feeling there might be more of Audrey hidden away in the Cornershop archives here and there, so stick with us Laura! Audrey's birth details -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Sep 1929 JENNINGS Audrey S, mother's maiden name Bolton, Portsmouth 2b 734 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Parent's Marriage Sep 1918 Jennings Thomas E married Annie M Bolton Portsmouth 2b 1267 Siblings? Births Mar 1920 Jennings Ronald V mother's maiden name Bolton Portsmouth 2b 1116 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Jun 1921 JENNINGS Norman mother's maiden name Bolton Portsmouth 2b 969 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Sep 1925 Jennings Leslie T mother's maiden name Bolton Portsmouth 2b 754 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Mar 1927 Jennings Joan D mother's maiden name Bolton Portsmouth 2b 696 Father's Birth? Births Sep 1898 Jennings Thomas Edward Portsea 2b 533 After bombing family moved to 51 Longs Road Married to Harold Franks 1954. Births Mar 1960 FRANK Tracey D JENNINGS Surrey Mid.E. then AUDREY S JENNINGS MARRIED CYRIL GIDDY JULY QTR 1980 CROYDON SURREY 11 1820 1980 Died on honeymoon in France, hit by car Portsmouth NEWS report dated 12th August 1980

Audrey's Personal Appearances 1949 Cinderella. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. 17 January 1949 onwards. Tom Arnold for Julian Wylie Productions. Produced by Joan Davis. Dialogue by Austin Melford. Musical Score by Phil Park. Settings designed by Charles Reading. Costumes by Doris Zinkeisen. Cast: Greta Fayne (Prince Charming), Audrey Jeans (Dandini), Arthur Scott (Baron Stoneybroke), George Bolton (Maggie, his Second Wife), Joy Jackley and Seth Jee (Ugly Sisters, her daughters), Virginia Vernon (Cinderella), Harry Allen & Joe Ritchie (The Broker's Men), Richard Lancaster (Captain ofthe Guard), Rosemary Dorken (Fairy Godmother), Dawn Swane (Ballerina), Al Read (Buttons). The Royal Dancers and Singers. Winstanley Babes. Specialities by Allen and The Albee Sisters.

1950 The Love Racket Venue Theatre Royal, Adelaide, SA First Date 1950 The GAYEST and HAPPIEST of all musicals! J. C. Williamson Theatres, Touring Company Contributors Arthur Askey Actor Wilma Harrison Actor Audrey Jeans Actor

1953 London Palladium, 7th October 1953 The cast included: George Formby. Terry Thomas. Alan and Blanche Lund. Gillian Lynne. The Mathurins. Audrey Jeans. Doreen Stephens, Alan Breeze. Clem Benard. The Deep River Boys. The Carole Colores Strings, Ted and Flo Vallett. Billy Cotton and his Band. G. Farfel and Pat Dodd Direction by Charles Henry. D cor by Charles Reading. Choreography by Pauline Grant. Costumes by R. St. John Roper and Alec Shanks

1954 Empire Liverpool 17th January 1954 Cinderella Panto Al Read & Audrey Jeans(as Dandini) Panto Cinderella Empress Brixton 1954 Harry Secombe Freddie Frinton Audrey Jeans

1955 25th Maerch 1955, Chiswick Empire Variety, David Hughes, Billy Dainty, Audrey Jeans, King Brothers 5th June 1955: Ruby Murray; Sid Phillips and his Band with Rick Mills and Rosemary Archer; Audrey Jeans 4th July 1955 Pavilion Torquay George Formby, Audrey jeans,Narriott & Evans 25th July 1955 Capitol Aberdeen George Formby, Audrey jeans, Arthur Haynes, Billy Baxter 1955 1st - 6th Aug Arthur Haynes, Saveen and "Daisy May", Bob and Alf Pearson, Audrey Jeans, Royal Hall Harrogate August 11th Cheltenham Town Hall, George Formeby, Audrey Jeans, Arthur Haynes 1955 August 15th for six days, George Formeby, Audrey Jeans, Arthur Haynes, Winter Gardens Margate PANTO 1955,MANCHESTER PALACE,CINDERELLA,HARRY SECOMBE,AUDREY JEANS

1956 1956 Ruby Murray Chic Murray & Maidie, J. Stewart, Audrey Jeans, Tommy Fields, etc Birmingham July 2 1956 - The opening of Bernard Delmont s Light up the Town at Brighton Hippodrome had the look and atmosphere of a Palladium first night. Ruby shared the programme with Tommy Fields, Reg Dixon and Audrey Jeans. The show was scheduled for ten weeks, terminating on September 8 Prince Of Wales Theatre, Audrey Jeans, Mel Torme, Skylons Sid Krofft Chic Murray & Maidie Marquis & Family Two Earls Jimmy Wheeler Compere - David Nixon "Val Parnell's Startime: Episode dated 18 October 1956" (1956) TV Episode [Actress .... Herself] November 19, 1956 Bristol Hippodrome Programme Joan Regan Morecambe & Wise, Audrey Jeans Joan Regan 1956 Bristol Hippodrome Programme (Morecambe & Wise/Audrey Jeans)

1957 David Whitfield 1957 Palace, Manchester Programme (Audrey Jeans/Harry Worth) Kings Theatre Souythsea for the summer David Whitfield 1957 Palace, Manchester Programme (Audrey Jeans/Harry Worth) Hippodrome, Bristol week commencing Monday November 19, 1956. 1957 Ruby Murray * Ken Platt ..photos/ info within * Billy Dainty, Tommy Locky, Audrey Jeans, etc. Doncaster

1958 March 24h Chiswick David Hughes, King Bros Audrey Jeans Variety at Birmingham Hippodrome, 15th September 1958, Audrey Jeans Roy Castle Dickie Valentine

1959 FRIDAY April 3rd 1959 CHERRY WAINER IN PALACE VARIETY ORGANIST Cherry Wainer makes her West End debut on Monday. She is the latest name to be added to the big variety bill headed by American comedian Alan King at the Palace Theatre, London. The mudlarks and singer-comedienne Audrey Jeans have already been named as other attractions. The first performance on Monday has been sold entirely as a charity performance in aid of the Jewish National Fund. Startime A revue devised and produced by Robert Nesbitt. London Palladium - 13 May, 1959 The Cast included; Frankie Vaughan, Tommy Cooper, The Fourmost, Cilla Black, Peter Goodwright and Audrey Jeans Costumes by R. St. John Roper Settings by Tod Kingham 1.THE PALLADIUM GIRLS and BOYS with AUDREY JEANS (Number staged by George Carden) 2."MEET MISTER COOPER" 3.FRANCIS BRUNN - Juggling sensation 4.AUDREY JEANS - The Personality Girl 5.PETER GOODWRIGHT - "It's only me" 6.BOYS and GIRLS COME OUT TO ROCK (Choreography by George Carden) with THE FOURMOST 7.TOMMY COOPER Excerpts from his repertoire 8.CILLA BLACK - Liverpool's Top lady of 'Pops'sings "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "You're my World" "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Heatwave" 9.THE PALLADIUM GIRLS and BOYS - (Number staged by George Carden; Composed and arranged by Burt Rhodes) 10.TOMMY COOPER - at it again 11.FRANKIE VAUGHAN and The V Group Ruby Murray Malcolm Vaughan Audrey Jeans 1959 Finsbury Park Empire

1960 MUSIC FOR THE MILLIONS. JIMMY EDWARDS, AUDREY JEANS Winter Gardens, Bournemouth * June 1 week 1960 Cinderella. Theatre Royal, Nottingham. 22 December 1960 to February 1961. Book, Lyrics, and Music by Harry Bright. Directed by E. Kelland-Espinosa. Decor by Tod Kingman. Choreography by Beatrice Livesey. A Tom Arnold (for Julian Wylie) Production. This production was adapted for the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre in 1961, then Oxford in 1964, etc. See below. Cast: George Arnett (Baron Hardup), Danny La Rue & Alan Haynes (Fabrina & Marlene, Cinderella's step-sisters), Jill Westlake (Cinderella), The Three Monarchs (The Broker's Men), Lonnie Donegan (Buttons), Peter Huggett, Nick Nicholls, & Les Bennetts (Bill the Butcher, Bob the Broker, and Charlie the Candlestick-Maker -- Button's Friends), Audrey Jeans (Dandini), Terry Donovan (Prince Charming), Jennifere Burch (Fairy Godmother), Al Parker (Major Domo), Dorothy Fraser (Premi re Danseuse), Tolan's Ponies, The Royal Dancers and Singers.

1961 1961 March 20th Southampton with Tony Hancock, Skylons, Leo Bassi & June, Three Ghezzis, Neil & Patricia Delrina May 27th 1961, Saturday Appearance on "Thank your Lucky Stars", hosted by Pete Murray. It featured Johnny Kidd and the pirates, Ronnie Hilton, George Chisholm and the Tradsters, Cleo Laine, Audrey Jeans and The Springfields apart from Kiss & co. Brighton Hippo: Tony Hancock*, Audrey Jeans, Albert & Les Ward, Three Ghezzis, The Skylons, Leo Bassi & June, Neil & Pat Delrina, Reg Drew's Dancing Lovelies 1961 1961 March 20th Southampton TONY HANCOCK, Audrey Jeans, Leo Bassi and June, Albert and Les Ward, Neil and Patricia Delrina and the Three Ghezzis. THE HANCOCK SHOW at the Bristol Hippodrome UK. 3rd April 1961. May 27th 1961, Saturday Appearance on "Thank your Lucky Stars", hosted by Pete Murray. It featured Ronnie Hilton, George Chisholm and the Tradsters, Cleo Laine, Audrey Jeans and The Springfields apart from Kiss & co.

1962 TARBUCK'S BACK. 1962 PUSS IN BOOTS PROGRAMME SIGNED BY CAST FRANKIE VAUGHAN, JIMMY EDWARDS, JOAN REGAN, MIKE AND BERNIE WINTERS, DICK EMERY,AUDREY JEANS, DAVID DAVENPORT AND GILLIAN LYNNE Cinderella. Hippodrome, Birmingham. 25 December to mid January 1962. Book, Lyrics, and Music by Harry Bright. Adapted and directed by E. Kelland-Espinosa. A Tom Arnold & Emile Little Production. This production was revived in Oxford, 1964. See below. Cast: George Arnett (Baron Hardup), Danny La Rue & Alan Haynes (Fabrina & Marlene, the Step-sisters), Jill Westlake (Cinderella), The Three Monarchs (The Broker's Men), Lonnie Donegan (Buttons) Petter Huggett, Pet Appleby, & Les Bennetts (Bill the Butcher, Bob the Baker, & Charlie the Candlestick-Maker, Button's Friends), Audrey Jeans (Dandini), Terry Donovan (Prince Charming), June Powell (Fairy Godmother), John Brennan (Major Domo (Barbara Chambers (Premi re Danseuse), Tolan's Ponies, and The Hippodrome Dancers & Singers.

1963 MERRY KING COLE 1963 Oxford New Theatre programme: Audrey Jeans, Jimmy Edwards Southsea Parade Pier Show Time Programme, Arthur Askey & Audrey Jeans July 19th 1963 "Comedy Bandbox: Episode #2.7" (1963) TV Episode [Actress .... Herself] Leeds Grand Harry Secombe, Audrey Jeans Ronnie Corbett 8th April 1963

1964 May 13th, London Palladium, Audrey Jeans with Frankie Vaughn, Cilla Black, Tommy Cooper Royal Hall Harrogate, 1964 15th Nov Dickie Henderson, Dennis Spicer (ventriloquist), Audrey Jeans (Dennis Spicer tragically died in a road accident on his way home from this show). The Gaumont (Salisbury Odeon after 1964)

1965 1965 Wellington Pier Pavilion Great Yarmouth, for 'Showtime 1965' with Mike and Bernie Winters, Matt Monro, Jimmy Tarbuck, Audrey Jeans, Les Della Chiesas Janr Murdoch

1966 She was in summer season with Frankie Vaughan and Roy Hudd in 1966. "The Frankie Vaughan Show: Episode #2.4" (1966) TV Episode [Actress .... Herself]

1967 1967 Summer season ABC Blackpool Holiday Showtime with Frank Ifield, Jimmy Tarbuck, Barron Knights

1970 1970 SPRING SHOW, HARRY SECOMBE, NORMAN VAUGHAN, NEW FACES, AUDREY JEANS, Peter MAXWELL Coventry Theatre ; commencing March 26th

1971 'Goody Two Shoes' with Hugh Lloyd, Ronnie Hilton, Audrey Jeans, Hope and Keen, Lis Edmiston, New Theatre Oxford 1971. 1971 Theatre Royal Nottingham Babes in the Wood Jack Douglas .Ivor Emmanuel...Audrey Jeans Summer Shows Princess Theatre Torquay PRE-SEASON Bruce Forsyth... Keith Harris...Audrey Jeans Here s Harry Harry Worth...Norman Vaughn...The Mixtures 1971 August 22nd Sunday Weymouth Pavilion Theatre, with Tony Mercer, Lawrie Adams

1972 1972 Jack & the Beanstalk Wimbledon Theatre Jimmy Tarbuck Audrey Jeans

1973 1973 Patomimes Wimbledon Theatre Jack and the Beanstalk Jimmy Tarbuck...Audrey Jeans JOKERS WILD: with Diana Dors, Audrey Jeans, Aimi MacDonald, Les Dawson, Alfred Marks, Jack Smethurst (1973) 23/12/1973 Theatre Royal Nottingham Jack & the Beanstalk

1974 1974 Pantomimes Nottingham Theatre Royal Jack and the Beanstalk Ken Goodwin...Audrey Jeans

1975 1975Pantomimes Coventry Theatre Jack and the Beanstalk Ken Goodwin... Frank Ifield... Audrey Jeans

1976 Wimbledon Theatre The Mating Season 15th March 1976 Sidney James... Audrey Jeans, Bill Waddington Winter Gardens Blackpool 1976 The Mating Season Sidney James... Audrey Jeans, Bill Waddington Sid James collapsed and died on stage at the Sunderland Empire on the opening night of The Mating Season. During the performance Sid suddenly stopped acting, although most of the audience hadn't realised, and Audrey Jeans, his co-star, started fluffing her lines and ad-libbing. Sid took a few steps backwards and collapsed on to a couch behind him. Audrey shouted into the wings "close the curtains", which promptly came down. Naturally, most of the audience thought it was part of the act and there was much laughter going on. Theatre manager Mel James had just returned to his office from seeing the play get under way. Programme Winter Gardens Theatre The Mating Season (Summer Season 1975) Sid James, Audrey Jeans, Bill Waddington, Rose Alba, Dorothy Dampier, Anne Scott Jones, Sarah Maxwell, Keith Morris, Brian Godfrey and Valerie Fyfer.

1978 18th September to 23rd September 1978 is for the Wellington Pier Pavilio Great Yarmouth, for 'The Freddie (Parrotface) Davies Laughter Show' with Audrey Jeans, The James Boys, The Mistins, Don Crann.

Audrey Jeans
Comedienne. Born Portsmouth, 1930. Audrey was just too ahead of her time for this country. There wasn't much room for comediennes of her type in the golden days of Variety. Most top funny ladies on the halls were grotesques like HYLDA BAKER, GLADYS MORGAN and NELLIE WALLACE. Audrey was an attrac tive, beautifully dressed real woman who could dance, sing (straight and point numbers), play sketches, deliver one-liners, get laughs and act. In America she would have been a star.
She began her career, at sixteen, as part of the chorus in the sip FIELD revue Piccadilly Hayride and from then on, with encouragement from the great Sid, worked at comedy. She toured Australia with ARTHUR ASKEY and then, as so often happens - nothing did. She packed it in and worked behind the counter of a friend's shop in Portsmouth.
The agent KEITH DEVON persuaded her to go back into the biz and, with his guidance, she became a good middle of the bill act and an excellent feed for the comics, playing her Variety and cabaret act in the UK and all over the world.
My first big summer season was with Audrey in Torquay and her advice, on and offstage, was invaluable. I was an idealist, blissfully ignorant of the devious politics of show business. I would always say what I thought, and still do. Audrey did manage to make me hold my tongue at least for that season. After one particularly unpleasant runin with the powers that be she took me on one side and said: `Listen. Keep that (pointing to her nose) out. That (pointing to her mouth) shut and who's got a packet of fags on Friday? You have!' I'm still waiting for the packet of fags! Audrey was married twice and, tragically, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while on her second honeymoon in Paris.
From Roy Hudd's book, Cavalcade of Variety Acts 1945-60.