Ann Stephens
Ann Stephens (21 May 1931 – 15 July 1966[1]) was a British child actress and singer, popular in the 1940s.[2] She was born in London.[3] In July 1941 she recorded several songs, including a popular version of "The Teddy Bears' Picnic",[4][5] "Dicky Bird Hop" (with Franklin Engelmann) and a setting by Harold Fraser-Simson of one of A. A. Milne's verses about Christopher Robin, "Buckingham Palace,"[6] which was often featured on the BBC Light Programme's Children's Favourites. In the same year Stephens had made her recording debut as Alice in musical adaptations of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.[7][8][9] She was chosen for this role from some 700 applicants auditioned by the record company His Master's Voice.
Later in the 1940s, Stephens appeared in several films, including In Which We Serve (1942), Fanny By Gaslight (1944), The Upturned Glass (1947) and Your Witness (1950).[3] In the 1950s she turned her attention to television drama. A surviving Pathe newsreel of 1945 records her visit to the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street, London, for which her gramophone recordings had raised £8,000.[10] Ann Stephens also appeared as a beautiful daughter of a Viking in the 1957 episode of The Adventures of Sir Lancelot titled "The Lesser Breed".
Selected discography
[edit]- "Ann's Nursery Rhymes" (based on Mother Goose rhymes)[11]
- "Buckingham Palace" (lyrics by A. A. Milne, music by Harold Fraser-Simson)[6]
- "Christopher Robin (Vespers)" (from A. A. Milne's When We Were Very Young; conducted by Clifford Greenwood)[12]
- "Dicky Bird Hop" (written by Ron Gourley, conducted by Henry Geehl)[13]
- Songs set to poems from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland[14]
- "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" (music by John Walter Bratton, lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy, conducted by Henry Geehl[5]
- "Wedding of the Gingerbreads" (conducted by Clifford Greenwood)[15]
- "King Wenceslas – A Christmas Play" (with Arthur Askey and Florence Desmond, narrated by Frank Phillips, music by Charles Williams) HMV C3640/1 Nov. 1947
Selected filmography
[edit]- In Which We Serve (1942)
- Dear Octopus (1943)
- Fanny by Gaslight (1944)
- They Were Sisters (1945)
- The Upturned Glass (1947)
- No Room at the Inn (1948)
- Your Witness (1950)
- The Franchise Affair (1951)
- The Good Beginning (1953)
- Son of a Stranger (1957)
References
[edit]- ^ "Ann Stephens". IMDb.
- ^ McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (16 May 2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526111968 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Ann Stephens". BFI. Archived from the original on 27 July 2017.
- ^ "Ann Stephens". IMDb.
- ^ a b "Ann Stephens- Teddy Bear's Picnic". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b ""Buckingham Palace" (Ann Stephens, 1941)". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Ann Stephens, Richard Goolden, Florence Desmond, Molly Munks, Nancy Munks, Robertson Hare, Arthur Askey, Syd Walker - Alice in Wonderland". discogs. 1941.
- ^ "Alice in Wonderland". 25 December 1944. p. 8 – via BBC Genome.
- ^ "Alice Through the Looking Glass" – via open.spotify.com.
- ^ "Alice Makes a Record".
- ^ "Ann Stephens- Ann's Nursery Rhymes". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Ann Stephens- Christopher Robin ( Vespers )". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Ann Stephens- Dicky Bird Hop". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Ann Stephens- Alice in Wonderland. Part 1 of 6". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Ann Stephens- Wedding of the Gingerbreads". Archived from the original on 13 December 2021 – via YouTube.
External links
[edit]- The Wedding of the Gingerbreads, The Ann Stephens Nursery Series - No. 3. Ann Stephens with Vocal Trio, 3:00, without year. Swiss Foundation Public Domain, 2019
External links
[edit]- Ann Stephens at IMDb
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