Gracie Fields interview with Michael Parkinson -05/11/1977

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  • Опубліковано 7 жов 2017
  • Gracie Fields interview with Parkinson, originally broadcast on November 5th 1977. (This is from a rebroadcast from 2017).
    The show was rebroadcast in September 1979 following Gracie's death.
    For all things Gracie Fields, visit the Dame Gracie Fields Appreciation Society on Facebook and www.graciefields.org
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 129

  • @paisley293
    @paisley293 2 роки тому +22

    Gracie was so full of life! She put all of herself into each song she sang. May she be resting in God's peace.

  • @markhayward7400
    @markhayward7400 11 місяців тому +12

    My grandad always used to say that he joined up in 1939 in order to get away from Gracie Fields and George Formby singing at him.

  • @johnwoods7650
    @johnwoods7650 10 місяців тому +12

    Michael Parkinson made them both feel at home. Gracie Fields bloomed in his interview.

  • @sbonnet2004
    @sbonnet2004 5 років тому +34

    Great to see Our Gracie on a stage with John Betjeman, who seems to appreciate her a lot.

  • @user-ti3st7nh2m
    @user-ti3st7nh2m 10 місяців тому +8

    My Mum always talked about Gracie Fields and a song about the biggest aspidestra in the world. She came from Lancashire & I always thought Gracie came from Lancashire this interview set the record straight. My Mum had a sister who used to sing Gracie’s songs. She was a soprano. I really enjoyed Gracie singing the biggest Aspidestra in the world.

    • @stephenkenworthy1881
      @stephenkenworthy1881 4 місяці тому

      Rochdale is a town which was in Lancashire (a county of England), so your Mum was right saying she was from Lancashire. Now Rochdale is in Greater Manchester, but everyone still says Lancashire. Even on their addresses.

  • @louisemartin6820
    @louisemartin6820 5 років тому +55

    What an amazing woman fascinating interview they don’t make em like this anymore

    • @leapyleeharris6731
      @leapyleeharris6731 10 місяців тому

      Its not a case of they don't make them like this anymore ? It's a case of the stars these days don't compare

  • @benjijack22
    @benjijack22 Рік тому +16

    Our Gracie - Legend, - She opened The RITZ Cinema in my hometown of Birkenhead on 4th October 1937 and sang "Sally" to the thousands of people who came to see her. Great interview here at nearly 80 on Parkinson a joy to watch, a lovely lady we will not see her likes again a Super Star of the 30s and 40s and what a voice! Gracie has gone, but never forgotten! R.I.P - Mark Lees - ex Cinema Projectionist - Wallasey - August 2022.

  • @rubywingo6030
    @rubywingo6030 Рік тому +6

    It’s 2023 and I’ve just discovered this beautiful lady! I have seen three of her films and am looking for more!❤

    • @roderickfernandez5382
      @roderickfernandez5382 Рік тому +1

      I'm glad you found her because there's a lot of her on the web and she was a wonderful performer and she brought England through the war just mention the name on the web and a lot of stuff

  • @SuperFerdie1965
    @SuperFerdie1965 Рік тому +9

    Imagine what this dear lady would think if she went back to Rochdale now.

  • @liamoification
    @liamoification 10 місяців тому +5

    My great aunt Margaret met Gracie at her home on Capri. Being from Rochdale she invited her in for tea. It was later reported in the Rochdale observer.

  • @utzuckz
    @utzuckz Рік тому +8

    what a wonderful interview -- Gracie had such an enjoyment of life, she passed it on to those around her whenever she performed

  • @phillipecook3227
    @phillipecook3227 4 роки тому +8

    This might be one of Parkinson's best interview.

  • @garychap8384
    @garychap8384 5 років тому +43

    She's the girl that makes the thing that drills the hole that holds the ring that drives the rod that turns the knob .... that works the thingamiebob! We wouldn't have won the war without her : )))))

    • @lechat8533
      @lechat8533 4 роки тому +5

      @GaryChap
      LOL... One couldn`t describe her better!

  • @russellcandy9850
    @russellcandy9850 4 роки тому +21

    Thank you for posting this. I adore her!! And thank God for Gracie Fields!!!

  • @ruthlanwarne8978
    @ruthlanwarne8978 10 місяців тому +5

    Clever interview managing to include both as Gracie’s personality was so big. I’ve loved Gracie fields since I was a child.😀

  • @levieenrose7646
    @levieenrose7646 6 років тому +26

    I love Gracie Fields! Thanks so much for the upload.

  • @lapponia77
    @lapponia77 Рік тому +5

    I love it when she breaks into Send In The Clowns .....

  • @RonWylie-gk5lc
    @RonWylie-gk5lc 6 років тому +7

    She is the very definition of "Star", so much talent in such a little body. Being able to see and hear her here was a real treat, I was an avid Parkinson fan but I cant remember seeing ever this.Lancashire was like the North East of England when Gracie was a child, incredibly impoverished but then again all the working classes were poor. she did amazingly to become the star she became

  • @OldiesAl
    @OldiesAl 6 років тому +21

    What a gem, thanks so much for this upload. Gracie never lost that wonderful voice, such a joy to see her full of energy even in her later years. I would love to see the full clip of her appearance in the Royal Variety Show, there is just an edited version on UA-cam from a compilation programme

  • @claytonsedgwick2366
    @claytonsedgwick2366 3 роки тому +6

    There’s a statue of Gracie that was recently elected in the town centre next to the town hall, and the theatre at one of the schools in the Spotland area of Rochdale is named after her.

  • @churchview100
    @churchview100 10 місяців тому +5

    Wow, they don’t make them like that anymore she’s amazing and she’s from my part of the world absolutely amazing

  • @mjrussell414
    @mjrussell414 3 роки тому +10

    I just discovered her and I am enamored with her magnificence. What a gem of a grand lady.

  • @prben2
    @prben2 Рік тому +5

    She sadly died two years after this interview, what a wonderful entertainer.

    • @marinawalker5745
      @marinawalker5745 10 місяців тому +2

      Aww, and she looks so full of life here..😢 God bless her. 😊😊

  • @louisemartin6820
    @louisemartin6820 4 роки тому +12

    She said her mum let her stay home from school while she went out to do a few jobs. How times change today her mum would get a fine and sent to prison.

  • @ThomasFortune860
    @ThomasFortune860 6 років тому +7

    Thank you or sharing this, Seb

  • @Gee4747
    @Gee4747 4 роки тому +7

    I remember visiting Island of Capri ,where she lived . A fab life . And she built the lido swimming bath for the people of Capri

  • @roscomeon3965
    @roscomeon3965 10 місяців тому +4

    What a magnificent woman. Brilliant performer and outstanding human being. So natural . So humble. People today don't know how lucky they have it compared to the horrendous poverty of the past. Parkinson one of the greatest interviewers. A class act.

  • @gloriahanes6490
    @gloriahanes6490 3 роки тому +5

    English Sweetheart spanning 50 years of entertainment from vaudeville, stage, theatre, movies, record albums, and entertaining the English troops for the entire war of WWII.

  • @josephlandrut4154
    @josephlandrut4154 2 роки тому +4

    Gracie was age 79 when recording this video so I was most surprised when learned she died at age 81 via her Wikipedia Bio

  • @franzitaduz
    @franzitaduz 5 років тому +6

    The Biggest Gift to a Britain under siege and a world in turmoil. A true Star,

  • @amyforbes3180
    @amyforbes3180 3 роки тому +6

    Brilliant full of joy and fun at 80 god love her god bless

  • @andywright8089
    @andywright8089 4 роки тому +5

    In floods watching this. Missing my grandma

  • @mckavitt
    @mckavitt 6 років тому +5

    A little bit like Julie Andrews... whose talent & personality were more suited to musicals than opera, altho’ she had studied operatic technique w no evident problems. Julie is another enormous performer England has ever produced. I wonder if Julie admired her as we do? Wonder if they ever met? Have loved this Gracie Fields since I first heard her as a kid. Still do... even in her afterlife. I plan to read her biography too. Thanks for this marvellous interview.

  • @marctufano2162
    @marctufano2162 3 роки тому +9

    Love her spirit ❤️

  • @sebastianbonnet1492
    @sebastianbonnet1492 10 місяців тому

    Very nice to watch, thanks for sharing it with us.

  • @valeriedony9675
    @valeriedony9675 10 місяців тому

    Came across this great interview by chance - wonderful lady!

  • @amyforbes3180
    @amyforbes3180 3 роки тому +6

    So true what Gracie mum said school isn't always necessary u learn as u grow up u do so true I've learned more since leaving school about life about history maybe it was just my school didn't teach us very much u learn life lessons from life school can't teach u everything

    • @lporquai9048
      @lporquai9048 2 роки тому +1

      So true, I've learnt more now than when I was at school I hated school.
      I find gracie fasinating. Her life, her humble beginnings. Her voice was amazing, great soprano voice

    • @SimonandJojo
      @SimonandJojo 2 роки тому +1

      My partner says the same, learnt more things than ever at school.

  • @carolking6355
    @carolking6355 4 роки тому +3

    I watched this often. I just adore Gracie

  • @RobertJonesWightpaint
    @RobertJonesWightpaint 10 місяців тому +3

    The ideal couple for an interview: Gracie was wonderful, Sir John cherubic!

  • @amyforbes3180
    @amyforbes3180 3 роки тому +7

    Real down to earth woman

  • @bethbartlett5692
    @bethbartlett5692 5 років тому +9

    There were some of the greatest Entertainers and Actors born in her era- and in 1898 - Irene Dunne - December 20, 1898.
    I think Cary Grant was born in 1896 -
    My great Aunt was born in 1888 - that always blew my mind - she was with us until December 1971.
    Gorgeous woman - a Model in 1905 - 1907
    I love her so - and enjoed our conversations - routinely I drilled her with History questions - great memories.

    • @gary1961
      @gary1961 5 років тому +1

      Cary Grant was born in Bristol in 1904. Real name - Archibald Leach.

  • @jazz185
    @jazz185 4 роки тому +3

    Betjeman looking like an old Peter Kay. Great to see this. As a child of the fifties her music was always on the radio.

  • @MrGoneTroppo
    @MrGoneTroppo 3 роки тому +3

    Those were the days - Dame Gracie & Sir John both fairly merry already. Parky hasn't touched a drop yet as a professional but you can tell he's looking forward to opening the post show champers

  • @alancoverdale713
    @alancoverdale713 10 місяців тому +2

    Lovely lady at her age of almost 80 at the time of recording program

  • @irenestansfield8755
    @irenestansfield8755 3 місяці тому

    My husband was a Stansfield his relatives used to say they were distant relatives. Marvellous lady

  • @TheSpikeg76
    @TheSpikeg76 Рік тому +3

    What a lady!!

  • @josephbarker5883
    @josephbarker5883 Рік тому +2

    wonderful

  • @oldlady2704
    @oldlady2704 4 роки тому +2

    She would be 122 if alive today...I grew up listening to her.....she was a strong lady.

  • @giuseppenero110
    @giuseppenero110 3 роки тому +4

    "We were ordinary people in heart"...this lady didn't was never an actress...that's why she was so loved.

  • @claireharouni8083
    @claireharouni8083 2 роки тому +3

    I LOVE HER MOVIES!!!!!

  • @terencewise7349
    @terencewise7349 10 місяців тому

    From Terence Wise in UK..........Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful !!!.

  • @gregshanley7742
    @gregshanley7742 2 роки тому +3

    Lovely talented lady.

  • @poshmum
    @poshmum 2 місяці тому

    This lady was humble to a tee. We will never see the likes of her talent again.

  • @benw26
    @benw26 Рік тому

    Very educational video

  • @davidswain1240
    @davidswain1240 2 роки тому +3

    That aspidestra is still growing.🤣

  • @StephenRBeet
    @StephenRBeet 5 років тому +1

    Wonderful

  • @ketigunia
    @ketigunia 4 роки тому +4

    Thanks for helping us win the war! She’s the girl that makes the thing that drills the hole that hold the ring that drives the rod that turns the knob that works the thingamabob :))))))) She’s also the girl that makes the thing that hold the oil that oils the ring that takes the shank that moves the crank that works the thingamabob

  • @bigjonisback
    @bigjonisback Рік тому +2

    Such charisma

    • @terencewise7349
      @terencewise7349 10 місяців тому

      From Terence Wise in UK.........The UK died in 1979 when Thatcher took power and it has never recovered.

  • @suzesinger6762
    @suzesinger6762 2 роки тому

    HA ! She is GREAT -bless her. My old Auntie - from Rawtenstall. Lancs....used to call me 'Gracie Fields' n I used to think-'Who's THAT' !?!
    Fifty odd years later - I enjoy doing my Wartime Song Act and sing a couple of Gracie's songs. ;)

  • @16toulousse
    @16toulousse 10 місяців тому +1

    What a beautiful soul ❤

  • @pokerphil1st
    @pokerphil1st Рік тому +1

    What a fantastic woman.x.

  • @beggandpartners
    @beggandpartners 6 місяців тому

    What a star….wonderful

  • @blamania93
    @blamania93 10 місяців тому

    Superb

  • @WOODBINEXX
    @WOODBINEXX 5 років тому +3

    legend

  • @BessesothBarnBandChannel
    @BessesothBarnBandChannel 3 роки тому +1

    I have been searching for the film clip shown at the start of this interview for years
    The clip was filmed in Bolton and features the Besses o’ th’ Barn Band !
    I have images and stories from past Besses Players about the filming
    I am trying to locate a digital copy of the whole film in order to locate other clips that include Besses. Can anyone help me?

    • @operathephantom
      @operathephantom  3 роки тому +2

      Yes, it is from the 1934 film 'Sing As We Go,' which is available to buy on DVD in this boxed set:
      www.amazon.co.uk/Gracie-Fields-Collection-Laughter-Looking/dp/B004NJWUE8/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=sing+as+we+go+dvd&qid=1603537546&sr=8-2

    • @BessesothBarnBandChannel
      @BessesothBarnBandChannel 3 роки тому

      @@operathephantom hi , thanks for this. Is there any streaming availability do you know
      It may be that the only clip including Besses is the last 30 seconds and I want to check before I buy the CD’s

  • @thepaulclayton
    @thepaulclayton 10 місяців тому

    just lovely lovely lovely - miss you Parky x

  • @QPRTokyo
    @QPRTokyo 10 місяців тому +1

    Actual she was a very Marmite entertainer. Many people could not stand her but many liked her.

  • @amyforbes3180
    @amyforbes3180 3 роки тому +3

    What a woman great what a character great notheren funny

  • @josephbarker5883
    @josephbarker5883 Рік тому

    ❤️

  • @mickmack8999
    @mickmack8999 4 роки тому

    What a lady

  • @mellofox
    @mellofox 4 роки тому +4

    Lovely. I'm baffled by the whole "aspidistra" thing though.

    • @artladybluntzer4112
      @artladybluntzer4112 4 роки тому

      me too

    • @paulashe7460
      @paulashe7460 2 роки тому +3

      A resilient house plant that got passed on from mother to daughter

    • @mellofox
      @mellofox 9 місяців тому

      ​@heinzer69its been so long since i commented, I had to watch it all again to find out why I'd even asked, lol. Thank you!

  • @helenahopkinson381
    @helenahopkinson381 10 місяців тому

    She was so lovely ❤

  • @SteveBrace
    @SteveBrace 6 років тому +30

    OMG I remember watching this! Gracie was born in the 19th century and lived through two world wars... Mewling millennials watch and learn.

    • @breakingaustin
      @breakingaustin 6 років тому +13

      I was born in 2000, and I love this.. I appreciate everything that everybody went through in previous years that allows me to be me today. And what a voice!

    • @cleehomes
      @cleehomes 6 років тому +9

      The Last Knight, please ignore Steve Brace as you can be born in whatever year or century to enjoy and appreciate Gracie or anything else in life and please remember to pass on the same message on to younger people when you are older!

    • @SteveBrace
      @SteveBrace 6 років тому

      Triggered much? :)

    • @Sunshine-zm1fx
      @Sunshine-zm1fx 6 років тому +6

      Only douche-bags use the word "triggered". Why not attempt an actual conversation instead of just insulting people?

    • @SteveBrace
      @SteveBrace 6 років тому

      Sunshine OK. Please explain where I have insulted anyone.

  • @davmar5648
    @davmar5648 Рік тому

    Never heard this great lady speak before. Her accent is not Rochdale. She sounds Scottish. I'm quite surprised.

    • @jerrywallop5647
      @jerrywallop5647 10 місяців тому +1

      Are you from Rochdale….?

    • @davmar5648
      @davmar5648 10 місяців тому

      @@jerrywallop5647 from 4 miles away.

  • @caden58b77
    @caden58b77 3 роки тому +2

    I’m related to Gracie fields

  • @lindapearl4635
    @lindapearl4635 10 місяців тому +2

    she did a runner during the war

    • @stephenkenworthy1881
      @stephenkenworthy1881 4 місяці тому

      It is sad that the public turned on her during the war just because she chose to go to Canada with her husband to save him from a British prison camp because he was Italian, and he was a great director. Dame Gracie Fields raised thousands for war bonds for Britain. Our darkest hour and Grace did as much as any one and more.

  • @ScottishMatters
    @ScottishMatters 5 років тому +2

    How the absolute f*ck can 15,000 people watch this genius of a woman and only 27 people can be arsed to click the like button? You don't deserve her, seriously.

    • @IxKILLxZ0MBIES
      @IxKILLxZ0MBIES 5 років тому +1

      Looks like you helped give it a boost up to 100 a week later and video was uploaded in 2017

  • @giggstrafford1
    @giggstrafford1 5 років тому +3

    Full of life and zest😀😀

  • @paulohare8483
    @paulohare8483 10 місяців тому

    She is a gas-woman. Please let us show this recording from many years ago to let us understand past attitudes and how closely they link to the present- top marks for Parky!

  • @cianog
    @cianog 4 роки тому

    Died 2 yrs later.

  • @stconstable
    @stconstable Рік тому

    Parkinson was wrong. Fields broke through in London in 1923.

  • @fairlyvague82
    @fairlyvague82 10 місяців тому

    They’re about ten *pound* and tuppence now Gracie ❤

  • @steffanhoffmann
    @steffanhoffmann 11 місяців тому +3

    Despite other comments here?
    This is the reality.
    Gracie divorced Archie and married Italian born film director Monty Banks in March 1940.
    She had lived in Capri since around 1929. Aged about 30.
    She was considered an enemy. So she moved to USA who weren't in WW2 until late 1941.
    British government officials were rather less fond of Gracie Fields, it has emerged.
    They refused to give the singer a passport in 1945, because she had become an Italian citizen on her marriage five years earlier.
    Their scathing remarks about her case are revealed in files released by the National Archives in Kew, South West London.
    In 1945 a Home Office official wrote:
    'She ought to be treated as an alien and refused a renewal of the British passport'
    After the war she returned to Capri Italy, hardly visited UK.
    So
    There's no smoke without fire.
    This interview showed her as ordinary etc and Parky played up to it. He was like that, around about this time.
    The bit where she takes off the cardigan, to appear ordinary, is laughable, as she wore Italian designer gear in everyday life.
    She was anything but what she portrayed herself to be here.
    Less than two years after this interview, she died of pneumonia in Capri.
    Is buried there.
    Even in her day, there were fake celebrities, they just didn't have the same media to expose them.

    • @MyDaisy66
      @MyDaisy66 10 місяців тому

      I’m from Islington in London. There is a plaque over a shop in Upper street that has her name, saying she lived there. Can’t see the dates, it’s too high up. So she must have lived in a London at some stage.

    • @steffanhoffmann
      @steffanhoffmann 10 місяців тому

      @@MyDaisy66 Yes she was a major star. However I'm saying she was fake.

  • @Dinki-Di
    @Dinki-Di 10 місяців тому

    She was appallingly treated by her own country during WWII just because she was married to a Hollywood film producer who was Italian. Despite all her wonderful war work for Britain, Fields had her British citizenship revoked. It must have broken her heart.

  • @vaslav030547
    @vaslav030547 6 років тому +3

    The greatest entertainer this country has ever produced was Ken Dodd.

  • @SOULRELIEF22
    @SOULRELIEF22 5 років тому +1

    St John 3:16! 💗
    JESUS is coming again SOON! HALLELUJAH!

    • @thatbird2
      @thatbird2 5 років тому +5

      What has that got to do with this interview? Good grief! Give it a rest wouldja?

    • @roder51
      @roder51 4 роки тому +1

      Grab a towel for him.

  • @richardloring7545
    @richardloring7545 Рік тому

    In same class as my Mum ...In Grimethorpe or Cudworth ...Excellent cricket player ...Be a pro nowadays....His Dad worked down the pit with my Grandad.....John Willy his name....I grew up in London but spent all my holidays in Grimey.....Great place....Stroked Red Rum the grand national winner when it opened a pub there...The Red Rum.....78

  • @josephbarker5883
    @josephbarker5883 Рік тому