Person    | Female  Born 9/1/1898  Died 27/9/1979

Dame Gracie Fields

Categories: Cinema, Humour, Music / songs, Theatre

Countries: Italy

Entertainer. Born over a chip shop in Rochdale, Lancashire as Grace Stansfield. Worked at Gainsborough Film Studios. Gracie and her husband Archie moved from Upper Street, N1 in 1929 to The Towers at 136 or 53 (depending on source) The Bishops Avenue. Cervical cancer in 1939 left her unable to have children. She and Archie split up and she gave the Towers, which she had not liked, to a maternity hospital. It has been demolished and is now a block of flats. Made a Dame shortly before she died, in Capri, where she had had a home for many years. We have watched "Sally In Our Alley" (1932) and have to say that Gracie must be an acquired taste.

The Official Gracie Fields lists 12 London homes for her including those with the plaques: Upper Street N1, 1926-9; Greentrees NW3, 1936-9.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Dame Gracie Fields

Commemorated ati

Gainsborough Film Studios

Hackney owns up: "The plaque states that 'The Wicked Lady' was filmed at Gain...

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Gracie Fields - N1

Gracie lived here in a flat above a sweet shop, 1926 - 1929, with her parents...

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Gracie Fields - NW3

Dame Gracie Fields, 1898 - 1979, entertainer, built this house for herself in...

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This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Dame Gracie Fields

Creations i

Gracie Fields - Prince of Wales Theatre

True to form Gracie sang to the workman as part of the job. Photos at The Off...

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Other Subjects

British Film Institute

British Film Institute

In 1996 the BFI erected 126 plaques across Britain to commemorate the centenary of cinema. See the pdf.

Group, Cinema, Museums / Libraries

16 memorials
Sir David Hare

Sir David Hare

Playwright, screenwriter and director. Born in St Leonards-on-Sea. Best known for his stage plays including 'Plenty', 'Racing Demon' and 'Amy's View'. He has also written the scripts for many telev...

Person, Cinema, Theatre

1 memorial
John Alfred Prestwich

John Alfred Prestwich

Inventor and designer of engines. Born Kensington.  He worked with Sebastian de Ferranti and the cinema pioneer William Friese-Greene to produce cameras, mutoscopes, cutting and perforation machine...

Person, Cinema, Engineering

1 memorial
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, CH, DBE.

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, CH, DBE.

Actress. Margaret Natalie Smith, known professionally as Maggie Smith, was born on 28 December 1934 in Ilford, Essex, the youngest of the three children of Nathaniel Smith (1902-1991) and Margaret ...

Person, Cinema, Seriously Famous, Theatre, TV & Radio, USA

1 memorial
Lady Diana Cooper

Lady Diana Cooper

Renowned beauty, actress, aristocrat, socialite and political wife. Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was born at 23A Bruton Street, as Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners. Officially daughter...

Person, Cinema, Theatre

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Sir Owen Williams

Sir Owen Williams

NW3, Redington Road, 16

Left to right: Mackmurdo, Williams, Thornycroft. All in a similar design so presumably erected by the same organisation - possibly a form...

2 subjects commemorated
Lord Duncan-Sandys

Lord Duncan-Sandys

Politician. Born Edwin Duncan Sandys at the Manor House, Sandford Orcas, Dorset. He entered parliament in 1935, the same year that he married Diana, the daughter of Winston Churchill. He served in ...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Alexander McKenzie

Alexander McKenzie

Landscape designer to the Metropolitan Board of Works. He wrote 'Parks, Open Spaces and Thoroughfares of London' (1869). Was the first Superintendent of Alexandra Palace Park, and was also bailiff ...

Person, Gardens / Agriculture, Scotland

1 memorial
Brian Epstein - WC2

Brian Epstein - WC2

WC2, Monmouth Street, 13

Unveiled by Cilla Black. The Cerynitis or Golden Hind originates in Greek myth.  It was the symbol of the parish of St Giles and has b...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Elizabeth Mitchell

Elizabeth Mitchell

Singer. Born in Jamaica, her family emigrated to London in 1963. Known as Liz Mitchell, she joined the cast of the musical 'Hair' and eventually moved to Berlin to join the German production, where...

Person, Music / songs, Caribbean Islands, Germany

1 memorial