Dame Vera Lynn
(1917-2020), Singer, television show host and philanthropistDame Vera Lynn (Vera Margaret Lewis (née Welch))
Sitter in 14 portraits
A singer whose career flourished during World War II, when she was one of the country's major entertainers and nicknamed 'The Forces' Sweetheart'. Her many popular songs included 'We'll Meet Again' and 'The White Cliffs of Dover'. Lynn began singing at seven in a working men's club. Her first radio broadcast, with the Joe Loss Orchestra, was in 1935. In 1940 she began her own radio series, Sincerely Yours, sending messages to British troops abroad. She toured Egypt, India and Burma and gave outdoor concerts for soldiers. Lynn's career continued to flourish in the 1950s and 1960s. She performed for the final time outside Buckingham Palace in 1995, in a ceremony marking the golden jubilee of VE Day.
Dame Vera Lynn; Harry Lewis; Virginia Penelope Ann Lewis
by Lewis Morley
toned bromide print, 1960s
NPG x125205
by Godfrey Argent
bromide print, 19 February 1969
NPG x165947
by Godfrey Argent
bromide print, 19 February 1969
NPG x165948
published by The Peter Maurice Music Co Ltd, after Unknown photographer
halftone reproduction, published 1943
NPG D46408
published by B. Feldman & Co Ltd, after Unknown photographer
halftone reproduction, published 1946
NPG D46409
Dame Vera Lynn (Vera Margaret Lewis (née Welch))
published by The Peter Maurice Music Co Ltd, after Unknown photographer
halftone reproduction, published 1952
NPG D48043
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