Barbara Evans, 78, dancer, singer, actress and teacher, danced on TV w/David Frost & in film w/Gene Kelly
Hoodoo
Monday 19 July 2010 at 15:40 by David Owen-Bell
http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/feature.php/28957/barbara-evans
Not So Much A Programme More A Way of Life was one of the many TV shows
in which Barbara Evans appeared in the early sixties with David Frost.
The title should be slightly adapted to pay a more implicit tribute to
her: Not So Much A Performer More A Way Of Life. As a dancer, singer,
actress and teacher, her career was extensively versatile.
Born in Birmingham and educated at The King Edward VI School, at the age
of nine Evans won a five-year scholarship to train at The Royal Academy
of Dance. At 16 she joined the national tour of The Dancing Years. With
Pauline Grant’s Ballet Company she played seasons in Blackpool and
London, before being offered the leading lady in Zip Goes A Million and
taking part in The Royal Command Performance in 1950.
Her first film was as a dancer in Invitation To The Dance with Gene
Kelly, and there is not a Tony Hancock fan in the world who would not be
able to name her as the wonderfully graceful partner to Tony and Sid
James in The Ladies’ Man. She would go on to work with Sid again in
Bless This House and Carry On Up The Khyber. Other film work included
Melba, Heavens Above and Seven Days.
On stage Evans appeared in pantomimes in London as well as being
principal boy in Coventry and Plymouth. She played Queen of the Moon in
Many In the Moon with Charlie Drake at the London Palladium, and
appeared in a number of successful West End revues, including Share My
Lettuce with Kenneth Williams and Dame Maggie Smith, One To Another with
Sheila Hancock, The Art of Living with Edward Woodward and the play
House of Cards. She toured the US in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple with
Dan Dailey and Richard Benjamin, and this country in The Grass Is
Greener with Richard Todd.
Evans made over 500 TV appearances in light entertainment shows, not
only as a dancer but also as a guest or resident singer, notably with
David Nixon. She also played in sketches in programmes including Wolfe
At The Door, The Reg Varney Show, Blackpool Night Out and Grub Street.
She was an occasional guest panellist on Call My Bluff and Going For A
Song, and also played dramatic roles in Armchair Theatre and The Avengers.
Moving to Worcester, Evans founded and ran one of the most successful
dance schools in the country, establishing international stars such as
Saranne Curtin, principal dancer with The Matthew Bourne Company. She
became a well-loved and respected dance examiner and adjudicator.
She was first married to the international jazz trombone player Harry
Roche and was a vocalist with his band in cabaret in London, Paris and
Germany. Her second marriage was to TV director/producer Patrick Johns.
Evans wrote a number of short stories including My Friend Joan and The
Freeth, which she recorded for radio. She also co-wrote with me the
screenplay of My Name Is Natalie Foster.
She died peacefully on July 4, aged 78, at her home in Martin
Hussingtree, Worcestershire, after a long illness.
--
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