We are staggered to learn that a "memorial service" for Kathy is planned at St Paul's The Actors Church in Covent Garden on November 1st.
Why staggered? It is being organised by one James Harman, the man thrown out of Kathy's life by her family after discovering his deeds over many years.
Poor Kathy. I do hope her real fans and friends avoid this sham of an affair.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Kathy's funeral
I have managed to confirm that Kathy's cremation took place at 3pm on June 1st at Mortlake Crematorium. My source was not a member of the family but the crematorium itself.
Monday, 13 June 2011
The lady vanishes
Ok, time to be blunt.
Why do we not know when or where Kathy's funeral took place? Why are fans not to be allowed to make their tributes there if they want too. What of the memorial service suggested in the Daily Telegraph piece at St Martin's In The Field?
The silence is deafening and people are asking some very relevant questions.
Why do we not know when or where Kathy's funeral took place? Why are fans not to be allowed to make their tributes there if they want too. What of the memorial service suggested in the Daily Telegraph piece at St Martin's In The Field?
The silence is deafening and people are asking some very relevant questions.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
A tribute from Frank Ifield
Kathy worked many times with the legendary entertainer Frank Ifield and he has sent me details of a tribute on his web site to her.
You can read it HERE
You can read it HERE
Monday, 30 May 2011
Comments from Facebook
"Do not worry I am following the truth slowly but surely.I was with her the day she left and do not know yet why they took her away from her environment. That was unethical and so cruel."
"Believe me she has to deal with me. I will never forget nor forgive what she has done. I will haunt her."
"I always said so to the one who took her there. All what i can think of is, they just wanted the flat where she was regardless the outcome."
We know the author of these comments and are protecting her identity at the moment.
Graham Smith
"Believe me she has to deal with me. I will never forget nor forgive what she has done. I will haunt her."
"I always said so to the one who took her there. All what i can think of is, they just wanted the flat where she was regardless the outcome."
We know the author of these comments and are protecting her identity at the moment.
Graham Smith
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Amazing viewing figures
Litle did I imagine when I made the post below just how many people would read it. Amazing.
Considering Kathy had been away from the public eye for so long it says a lot for her charisma and character that she can attract such attention.
Every comment I have had has been positive apart from one national journalist who was dismissive and offensive, despite the fact that it is the truth and I can verify it 100%.
He's kept me "warm" for six years, no doubt hoping he would cream the exclusive so he would rubbish it wouldn't he?
I'm afraid I cannot give Kathy's fans funeral details for the family is not releasing them. But the Thatchers feature prominently in The Mail on Sunday today. See HERE
Sarah Thatcher is Kathy's niece and taking care of the funeral arrangements.
Considering Kathy had been away from the public eye for so long it says a lot for her charisma and character that she can attract such attention.
Every comment I have had has been positive apart from one national journalist who was dismissive and offensive, despite the fact that it is the truth and I can verify it 100%.
He's kept me "warm" for six years, no doubt hoping he would cream the exclusive so he would rubbish it wouldn't he?
I'm afraid I cannot give Kathy's fans funeral details for the family is not releasing them. But the Thatchers feature prominently in The Mail on Sunday today. See HERE
Sarah Thatcher is Kathy's niece and taking care of the funeral arrangements.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
The truth of the matter
When Kathy Kirby died last week her family put out a short statement saying that she had died after a short illness.
She died after almost 30 years of living reclusively in a Kensington flat. For many of those years her life was controlled by people who I have come to know were only in it for what they could get out of it.
In 2005 I published a book for her last manager, James Harman, one of the people I just mentioned.
As a result Kathy's family, and particularly her niece, Sarah Jane Thatcher, began to take an interest in the lady they had basically ignored for 30 years. I am aware that Lady Sarah had not seen her aunt for 30 years but comparatively recently acquired her power of attorney.
In one conversation Sarah described the conditions in which she found her aunt as "squalor".
Kathy had a package of ailments which came with the lifestyle she had lived during the heady days as a singer in the sixties, and beyond. Apart from some hospitalisation she had survived with it and told me personally that she was happy and wanted to stay where she was.
In today's Telegraph Sarah described there being a "special bond" between her and Kathy. It must be very difficult to have a special bond when one lives in Spain. It would have been even more difficult to maintain that bond when one's husband, Sir Mark Thatcher, had just bought a new multi-million pound home in Barbados.
Kathy had a package of care to help with her daily needs and up three days before her death was happy and coping with what her life had become.
Then on Monday May 16th 2011 a number of people arrived at her flat, Sarah among them. Kathy's dearest friends, who kept in touch only by telephone because of the distance between them, last spoke to her on the Sunday and Monday. There was absolutely no indication from her that she was leaving her beloved flat, but leave she did, and was taken to Brinsworth House. Brinsworth is a house for retired entertainment people in Twickenham.
On Thursday Kathy died there. Only one of her regular friends was informed. The lady to whom Sarah spoke only a few days before Kathy left her home, and who had spent countless hours keeping this great lady company, learned of her friend's death through the media.
Today's Telegraph column says her funeral next week will be a private family affair. Her legion of fans across the world are unlikely to know where. Her closest friends do not know where, or when. They, at least, deserve to.
As in life, Kathy in death maintains the enigmatic aura. It is surely remiss of her family to keep from her fans the place of her funeral. It is said a memorial service will take place later in the year at the church of St Martin's in the Field, London.
Will it?
She died after almost 30 years of living reclusively in a Kensington flat. For many of those years her life was controlled by people who I have come to know were only in it for what they could get out of it.
In 2005 I published a book for her last manager, James Harman, one of the people I just mentioned.
As a result Kathy's family, and particularly her niece, Sarah Jane Thatcher, began to take an interest in the lady they had basically ignored for 30 years. I am aware that Lady Sarah had not seen her aunt for 30 years but comparatively recently acquired her power of attorney.
In one conversation Sarah described the conditions in which she found her aunt as "squalor".
Kathy had a package of ailments which came with the lifestyle she had lived during the heady days as a singer in the sixties, and beyond. Apart from some hospitalisation she had survived with it and told me personally that she was happy and wanted to stay where she was.
In today's Telegraph Sarah described there being a "special bond" between her and Kathy. It must be very difficult to have a special bond when one lives in Spain. It would have been even more difficult to maintain that bond when one's husband, Sir Mark Thatcher, had just bought a new multi-million pound home in Barbados.
Kathy had a package of care to help with her daily needs and up three days before her death was happy and coping with what her life had become.
Then on Monday May 16th 2011 a number of people arrived at her flat, Sarah among them. Kathy's dearest friends, who kept in touch only by telephone because of the distance between them, last spoke to her on the Sunday and Monday. There was absolutely no indication from her that she was leaving her beloved flat, but leave she did, and was taken to Brinsworth House. Brinsworth is a house for retired entertainment people in Twickenham.
On Thursday Kathy died there. Only one of her regular friends was informed. The lady to whom Sarah spoke only a few days before Kathy left her home, and who had spent countless hours keeping this great lady company, learned of her friend's death through the media.
Today's Telegraph column says her funeral next week will be a private family affair. Her legion of fans across the world are unlikely to know where. Her closest friends do not know where, or when. They, at least, deserve to.
As in life, Kathy in death maintains the enigmatic aura. It is surely remiss of her family to keep from her fans the place of her funeral. It is said a memorial service will take place later in the year at the church of St Martin's in the Field, London.
Will it?
Friday, 20 May 2011
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
The official web site
For six years I have maintained and paid for Kathy's official web address http://www.kathykirby.co.uk/
I have now let it go for I am heartily sick of the low life crawlers who influence her life, and have helped to destroy it, and who still, to this day, set themselves up as her management and friends.
It was redirected to this site, but there has been little interest of late, and poor Kathy has absolutely no control over her affairs.
I am still here for those who want to know the truth. If you want to know the lies take a look at Wikipedia etc.....
I have now let it go for I am heartily sick of the low life crawlers who influence her life, and have helped to destroy it, and who still, to this day, set themselves up as her management and friends.
It was redirected to this site, but there has been little interest of late, and poor Kathy has absolutely no control over her affairs.
I am still here for those who want to know the truth. If you want to know the lies take a look at Wikipedia etc.....
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
They are still at it
The dark forces controlling poor Kathy are still at work, but things are about to change.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Quiet times
Yes, it is a quiet time for the Kathy Kirby story, but it will change, soon.
The influencing forces around her have been busy again, but we know what is going on.
The influencing forces around her have been busy again, but we know what is going on.
Sunday, 22 August 2010
From The Street on our Main Street!
Thursday, 19 August 2010
The show "Secret Love"
We're flattered to see that a fan's tribute to our show "Secret Love" on YouTube has had 77,000 plus hits in two years, more in fact than any of Kathy's clips on the site! Here it is and many thanks to the person who posted it.
When times improve we will certainly revive the show which has been rewritten and updated from 2008.
When times improve we will certainly revive the show which has been rewritten and updated from 2008.
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Kathy and Bruce Forsyth
The Daily Mail mentions Kathy in the story about him on the "Who Do You Think You Are?" TV programme HERE
Yes we did know about it, before anyone asks, in fact we were probably one of the first to reveal it and mentioned in in the script of the show about Kathy.
Bruce was very gracious about Kathy in his autobiography and said he was sad that she had fallen on such hard times. Kathy has only fond memories of him.
Yes we did know about it, before anyone asks, in fact we were probably one of the first to reveal it and mentioned in in the script of the show about Kathy.
Bruce was very gracious about Kathy in his autobiography and said he was sad that she had fallen on such hard times. Kathy has only fond memories of him.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Australian Fan Club
Amazingly Kathy has just had an Australian fan club started after over 25 years in retirement. You'll find them on Facebook and we wish them well!
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
The enigma of Kathy Kirby
When I first discovered what had happened to Kathy Kirby, the blonde bombshell pop star of over 40 years ago I little imagined that I would become part of the ongoing enigma and controversy surrounding her.
After discovering a forgotten manuscript, written ten years previously, about the troubled star’s glittering and scandal-filled life which turned to instant obscurity overnight, I knew there was a very emotional story to tell. I have learned that over 25 years after she last performed in a Blackpool bar, Kathy, who turned 71 last year, has continued her diva like existence even in the hidden corner of London where she lives as a virtual recluse.
It is a story which you could not make up. It has led to a stage show, “Secret Love-The Amazing Kathy Kirby Story”, and a much more definitive biography than the one from the original manuscript will be published later in the year.
By undertaking the show and the book I have put myself in for extreme reaction from certain of the small band of people who have supported Kathy during her 25 years of obscurity. The threat of adverse reaction began quite early on in the project, before I had even published her story under the title of “Secrets, Loves and Lip Gloss”. I received a letter purporting to be from her “legal advisors” which transpired to be from one of a group of fansfan who thought they had exclusive rights to the Kirby story. This was despite the fact that another of her group, christened tongue in cheek as the Kirby Mafia, had asked me to build a web site for her, at her request. A web site, www.kathykirby.co.uk , which continues to draw an amazing amount of visitors from world-wide, largely due to the enigma and mystique which have been spun around a star who is now typical of the Nora Desmond character in Lloyd-Weber’s Sunset Boulevard, and even looks like her.
During the publishing process for her biography I began to learn perhaps why the woman, who was once Britain’s highest paid female singer, had stepped completely out of the spotlight while still only in her early forties. Opera trained and possessing a voice with an unequalled range and strength, she became most famous for her version of Secret Love in 1963 but her catalogue of work was so varied that she continues to hold a timeless appeal particularly to the over 55s. She has a great gay following, partly due to her greatest hit’s title.
Her career was shaped by the former big bandleader Bert Ambrose, who became her manager, mentor and lover, despite being 42 years her senior. He was one of the first to spot that Kathy had a problem with what were metaphorically termed “demons”. After a performance she would sit for hours in a dressing room muttering what Ambrose himself said was “utter rubbish”. What he did not know was that the star had been diagnosed as suffering from an acute form of schizophrenia, and as the years went by this, and an extravagant, controversy filled lifestyle, was to take its toll.
He would control her every waking moment until his death in Leeds in 1971. From then she lurched from disaster to comeback in regular doses, bankruptcy followed, and when I discovered the story she was living on housing benefits in a Kensington flat. She still is, cared for primarily by one friend who must remain anonymous. The author of the biography, James Harman, her last manager, had walked away from her bizarre behaviour only to return in 1995 when a play had been written called, “Whatever happened to Kathy Kirby?”- A very reasonable title in the circumstances but the content bore no resemblance to her life, it was based on a drag artist singing her songs.
Still the diva, Kirby didn’t like it and the title was eventually changed after a meeting with the playwright.
The story was a success, despite its author's soon to be discovered duplicitous behaviour, and after visiting The Sunday Express offices in London I secured a major payment for serialisation and the first interview proper from Kathy in almost 30 years. She and Harman were supposed to have had equal shares of the payment, and it was at this time that the bizarre behaviour began to come from more than one quarter!
Much work was done on the script for the proposed stage show and when Harman’s version was rejected he began an amazing campaign to try and have the show taken off, which included ringing a national newspaper claiming that Kirby wanted the show to be boycotted and that she had never heard of me. It continues to this day.
During her career Kathy was controlled totally by her manager and mentor, Bert Ambrose, until his death in 1971. Here I was in 2008 and it seemed that still factions existed which wanted to control the enigma which has become the Kirby legend.
Regardless, the show was put together and Kathy was played by 25-year-old Suzi Jari who has many visual and vocal qualities which the star possessed. That one so young could be captured by the music and the lifestyle of Kirby shows that the story crosses the age divide. Indeed Kathy Kirby was emulating Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears before either of them were born!
We made the show a combination of a tribute to Kirby’s music and a telling of the most amazing life story. If I had included every twist and turn of events since discovering that forgotten manuscript we would have two shows. I find it incredible the amount of public interest there is for someone who has barely been seen for a quarter of a century, but perhaps that is all down to the enigma of not knowing, wondering.
Kathy Kirby the star may have faded but the music and the diva live on.
So will the story.
Graham Smith
It is a story which you could not make up. It has led to a stage show, “Secret Love-The Amazing Kathy Kirby Story”, and a much more definitive biography than the one from the original manuscript will be published later in the year.
By undertaking the show and the book I have put myself in for extreme reaction from certain of the small band of people who have supported Kathy during her 25 years of obscurity. The threat of adverse reaction began quite early on in the project, before I had even published her story under the title of “Secrets, Loves and Lip Gloss”. I received a letter purporting to be from her “legal advisors” which transpired to be from one of a group of fansfan who thought they had exclusive rights to the Kirby story. This was despite the fact that another of her group, christened tongue in cheek as the Kirby Mafia, had asked me to build a web site for her, at her request. A web site, www.kathykirby.co.uk , which continues to draw an amazing amount of visitors from world-wide, largely due to the enigma and mystique which have been spun around a star who is now typical of the Nora Desmond character in Lloyd-Weber’s Sunset Boulevard, and even looks like her.
During the publishing process for her biography I began to learn perhaps why the woman, who was once Britain’s highest paid female singer, had stepped completely out of the spotlight while still only in her early forties. Opera trained and possessing a voice with an unequalled range and strength, she became most famous for her version of Secret Love in 1963 but her catalogue of work was so varied that she continues to hold a timeless appeal particularly to the over 55s. She has a great gay following, partly due to her greatest hit’s title.
Her career was shaped by the former big bandleader Bert Ambrose, who became her manager, mentor and lover, despite being 42 years her senior. He was one of the first to spot that Kathy had a problem with what were metaphorically termed “demons”. After a performance she would sit for hours in a dressing room muttering what Ambrose himself said was “utter rubbish”. What he did not know was that the star had been diagnosed as suffering from an acute form of schizophrenia, and as the years went by this, and an extravagant, controversy filled lifestyle, was to take its toll.
He would control her every waking moment until his death in Leeds in 1971. From then she lurched from disaster to comeback in regular doses, bankruptcy followed, and when I discovered the story she was living on housing benefits in a Kensington flat. She still is, cared for primarily by one friend who must remain anonymous. The author of the biography, James Harman, her last manager, had walked away from her bizarre behaviour only to return in 1995 when a play had been written called, “Whatever happened to Kathy Kirby?”- A very reasonable title in the circumstances but the content bore no resemblance to her life, it was based on a drag artist singing her songs.
Still the diva, Kirby didn’t like it and the title was eventually changed after a meeting with the playwright.
The story was a success, despite its author's soon to be discovered duplicitous behaviour, and after visiting The Sunday Express offices in London I secured a major payment for serialisation and the first interview proper from Kathy in almost 30 years. She and Harman were supposed to have had equal shares of the payment, and it was at this time that the bizarre behaviour began to come from more than one quarter!
Much work was done on the script for the proposed stage show and when Harman’s version was rejected he began an amazing campaign to try and have the show taken off, which included ringing a national newspaper claiming that Kirby wanted the show to be boycotted and that she had never heard of me. It continues to this day.
During her career Kathy was controlled totally by her manager and mentor, Bert Ambrose, until his death in 1971. Here I was in 2008 and it seemed that still factions existed which wanted to control the enigma which has become the Kirby legend.
Regardless, the show was put together and Kathy was played by 25-year-old Suzi Jari who has many visual and vocal qualities which the star possessed. That one so young could be captured by the music and the lifestyle of Kirby shows that the story crosses the age divide. Indeed Kathy Kirby was emulating Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears before either of them were born!
We made the show a combination of a tribute to Kirby’s music and a telling of the most amazing life story. If I had included every twist and turn of events since discovering that forgotten manuscript we would have two shows. I find it incredible the amount of public interest there is for someone who has barely been seen for a quarter of a century, but perhaps that is all down to the enigma of not knowing, wondering.
Kathy Kirby the star may have faded but the music and the diva live on.
So will the story.
Graham Smith
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