Rockapaedia Obituaries
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan died aged seventy-one on 17th September 1999 from hea
rt failure in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. He was survived by his sons David and Andrew, daughter Susan and wife Stella who donated archival materials, including scores and sheet music he had collected throughout his career to John Moores University in Liverpool, U.K.
Frankie Vaughan was born Frank Ableson to a Jewish family in Liverpool, U.K. In his early life, he was a member of the Lancaster Lads' Club, a member group of the National Association of Boys' Clubs in the UK, and in his career he was a major contributor to the clubs, dedicating his monetary compensation from one song each year to them. Frankie was an evacuee during World War II and started out at the club intending to be a boxer. Frankie attended the Lancaster College of Art on a scholarship and was a vocalist in their dance band. After a stint in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War II he returned to art school, this time at the Leeds College of Art. When he won a prize in a design contest, he left for London, where he won second prize on a radio talent show.
Frankie Vaughan's career began in the late 1940s performing song and dance routines. He was known as a fancy dresser, wearing top hat, bow tie, tails, and cane. In the 1950s he worked for a few years with the band of Nat Temple, and after that period he then began making records under his own name. In 1955, he recorded what was to become his trademark song, Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl.
Frankie recorded a large number of songs that were covers of United States hit songs, including Perry Como's Kewpie Doll, Jimmie Rodgers' Kisses Sweeter than Wine, Boyd Bennett's Seventeen, Jim Lowe's The Green Door, and the Fleetwoods' Come Softly to Me. In 1956, his cover of The Green Door reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The same year he was voted 'Showbusiness Personality of the Year'. In early 1957, his version of The Garden of Eden, reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1961, Frankie Vaughan hit number 1 in the UK again, with Tower of Strength, but the rise of beat music eclipsed his chart career for two or three years, before he returned to the Top 10 in 1967 with There Must Be A Way. Chart success eluded him after this although he did have two more Top 40 singles; 'Nevertheless' and 'So Tired'. In 1957 he was voted the eighth most popular star at the British box office.
Managed at this time by former journalist and theatrical agent Paul Cave, Frankie Vaughan stayed in the United States for a time to make a film with Marilyn Monroe, Let's Make Love in 1960 and was an actor in several other films, but his recordings were never chart hits in the U.S.A. with the exception of Judy, which reached number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1958. In 1961, Frankie Vaughan was on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Coventry Street, in London, U.K.
In 1985, Frankie Vaughan starred in a stage version of 42nd Stre
et at Drury Lane in London, opposite his old friend Shani Wallis who appeared in their first film together, 'Ramsbottom
Rides Again'. After a year, he nearly died of peritonitis and had to leave the cast.
In 1994, Frankie was one of a few to be honoured by a second appearance on BBC show 'This Is Your Life', when he was surprised by Michael Aspel. .
Despite frequent bouts of ill-health, Frankie Vaughan continued performing until shortly before his death.
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