Ruby Murray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ruby Murray | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ruby Murray |
| Born | March 29, 1935, Donegall Road, Belfast |
| Died | December 17, 1996 (aged 61) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Instrument(s) | Singer |
| Website | www.rubymurray.org |
Ruby Murray (March 29, 1935 – December 17, 1996, Torquay, England) was a popular singer from Northern Ireland.
Murray was born on the Donegall Road in south Belfast.[1] Her voice's unique sound was a result of an operation on her throat in early childhood.[2] She toured as a child singer, and first appeared on television at the age of 12.
Her first single, Heartbeat, reached the UK top 5 in 1954. Softly, Softly, her second single, reached No.1 the following year. That song was one of five in the Top Twenty in the same week in March — a record which still stands to this day.[3]
The 1950s were a busy period for Murray, during which she had her own television show, starred at the London Palladium with Norman Wisdom, appeared in a Royal Command Performance, and toured the world. In a period of 52 weeks, starting in 1955, Murray constantly had at least one single in the charts.
She starred with Frankie Howerd in her only film rôle as Ruby in the 1956 farce A Touch of the Sun.
During the summer of 1957, while working in Blackpool, Murray met Bernie Burgess, eventually leaving Northern Ireland to live with him in England. Burgess became her manager and the couple became a double act during the 1960s. After her first marriage failed she married Ray Lamar and lived in Torquay, Devon.
She died of liver cancer, aged 61, in December 1996 after a period of illness and alcoholism.
Ruby Murray's name lives on in Cockney rhyming slang as the rhyme for curry, usually with the usage ruby rather than the name in full. [4]
A play about Murray's life, Ruby, written by Belfast playwright Marie Jones opened at the Group Theatre in Belfast in April 2000.
[edit] References
- ^ Culture Northern Ireland website.
- ^ Official Website.
- ^ Official website states that Guinness Book of Records confirms this.
- ^ Ruby Murray rhyming slang. Webster's Online Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-12-15.
