LORRAE DESMOND

Lorrae Desmond, MBE (born Beryl Hunt on 2 October 1929) was a Gold Logie -award winning Australian singer, entertainer, and character actress, who had a career spanning over 50 years. She travelled to Britain in the 1950s, and at 16, as Lorrae started her career as a singing cigarette girl and became a celebrity there, she performed as a solo artist and with backing group The Rebels, she appeared in cabaret, pantomime, radio, and live recording, including several shows for the BBC, including Meet Lorrae and Swing with Lorrae. She even featured in her own comedy series Trouble for Two in 1958, was in the cast of several Terry-Thomas TV specials and competed to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957.

In 1962, she made history by being the first woman to win the Gold Logie (which was in fact Silver, as women at the time received the Silver Statuette, and men received the Gold Statuette) for her work on her variety show The Lorrae Desmond Show which ran from 1960 to 1964. Desmond remains best known for her long running role as Shirley Gilroy (née Dean) in the television series A Country Practice, which she played from 1981 to 1992. The Australian Government invited her to tour Vietnam from 1967 to 1971, to entertain the troops. Desmond was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1970 for services to entertainment and the welfare of the Australian Forces in Vietnam. Desmond died in 2021 aged 91.

SINGLES

''Tell Me Again / Get Your Daddie's Car Tonight'' 1960 Parlophone
''Everybody's Got A Home But Me (Pipe Dream) / Cannibal Mardi Gras'' 1964 RCA
''Never Before / Between Hello And Goodbye'' 1964 RCA
''Everybody's Favourite Model Girl / Last John'' 1970 Philips

ALBUMS

'Lorrae For Love' 1970 Wheel
'Australian Musicals - Now!' 1970 ABC

'For You' 1990 Dino

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorrae_Desmond