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.
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