Classy singer from a far classier era than ours. This quote is rather sad:
“Leaving Tiger Bay was the worst thing I ever did,” she has said. “I’ve found happiness in my work, but not in my private life. I had to take from my private life to make my public life successful. I had to make a lot of sacrifices. I was happy in Cardiff. I had a great time. Every Thursday there was a factory club; darts, dancing. I was happy until success entered my life, and then it was all downhill. Success spoilt me. It took away my happiness. My success became a barrier with my family. They couldn’t relate to me, and I couldn’t relate to them.”
She doesn’t consider herself black, just Welsh Gaelic.
“She struggled nevertheless to form relationships. Not just with men, but with anybody. Her first husband, Kenneth Hume, who she married in 1967, turned out to be gay and died of a drug overdose aged 40.”
“Her second, to hotelier Sergio Novak, ended in acrimonious divorce after 13 years. Her second daughter, Samantha – supposedly fathered by actor Peter Finch – committed suicide. Tales of her temper and contrariness abound. She says she can count her friends on the fingers of one hand.”