Cilla: 1943-2015: Queen of the Swinging Sixties

by Douglas Thompson

'IT WAS A PRIVILEGE TO KNOW AND LOVE HER'- Paul McCartney
The news that Cilla Black had died in August at the age of seventy-two triggered an outpouring of love and a wave of sadness that spread around the world. Her infectious personality and her common touch made her one of Britain’s best loved entertainers. Known to one generation for a string of number-one hits like Anyone Who Had a Heart and You're My World, and loved by another for hosting the classic ITV show Blind Date , Cilla came a long way from hanging coats in Liverpool's Cavern Club for five bob an hour.
In 1943 2015 , Douglas Thompson traces her rise to the top, her heart-warming marriage to Bobby Willis and the profound effect his death had on her. This affectionate biography is a fitting tribute to our Cilla, a huge talent who became a national treasure.

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

Douglas Thompson is the author of more than 20 books. A biographer, broadcaster and international journalist, he is a regular contributor to major newspapers and magazines worldwide. His books, published in a dozen languages, include the television-based anthology Hollywood People and bestselling biographies of Madonna, Clint Eastwood, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dudley Moore, John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, and Leonardo DiCaprio. He collaborated with the billion-dollar dancer Michael Flatley on his top-ten story ‘Lord of the Dance’.

His books have been serialised in newspapers and magazines throughout the world.

With Christine Keeler he wrote her revealing memoir 'The Truth At Last'. He worked as a consultant on the tie-in television documentary on the Profumo Affair.

Following the death of John Profumo the book was updated as ‘Secrets and Lies’ and published to huge interest in 2012.

Working with eminent psychotherapist Pauline Sutcliffe, he told the poignant story of her brother Stuart, who named and helped found the Beatles with John Lennon, in The Beatles’ Shadow.

His book‘The Hustlers’, about gangsters and gambling in 1960s London, is being developed for the screen and was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary.

His latest successes include the trilogy ‘Mafia Princess’, ‘Mafialand’ and ‘The Dark Heart of Hollywood’ which are all being developed for film.

In 2012 his authorised biography of international statesman Youssef Nada, ‘Inside the Muslim Brotherhood’, was published in English and Arabic.

Douglas Thompson divides his time between a medieval English village, the Middle East and California, where he was based as a Fleet Street foreign correspondent and columnist for more than 20 years

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cilla Black was a huge star in the 1960’s and one of the most successful girl solo singers of that decade. Even after her fledgling career as a pop singer seemed to be over, she branched out into television; always reinventing herself and moving forwards. As she admits often throughout this book, always motivated to work and succeed. This biography of Cilla is written in a chatty, easy to read, style. At times, in fact, in reads more like an extended interview, making use of various quotes and often failing to expand on comments or delve much beyond the superficial. Indeed, much of the early chapters about her life growing up in Liverpool seem cobbled together from the Hunter Davies biography of the Beatles. The author admits that often Cilla seems to consider her childhood through rose tinted glasses and, although happy, she certainly grew up with a very poor background, as did her husband Bobby Willis.

It is fair to say that Cilla would have had a very different career without Bobby, who was her staunch helper and partner until his death. The other man who was of prime importance was Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles and other Merseybeat artists, including Cilla. There are hints of the difficult relationship between Cilla and Epstein – and indeed other artists, neighbours and even Bobby. If Cilla is demanding, then she is the first to admit it, but it would have been interesting to have not had these half heard tantrums or ‘nasty’ comments brushed aside with glib comments. Not so much to try to make her out to be unkind or difficult, but simply to try to understand her a little more.

With the new television biopic of her life such a success, it is nice to re-examine the life of a celebrity who has been around for so long, but often so passed over. Although never really a fan of the television shows she hosted, I have enjoyed her music for many years and, as a Beatles fan, she has obvious interest from her Liverpool background, involvement in the music scene then and her management by Epstein. Still, this book takes us from her childhood, marriage, early career in music, television, short lived film career (including fascinating reviews from that time)and family life. If you have enjoyed the recent television series, this will enable you to know a little more about Cilla and her long career.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of biographies/autobiographies but I have always been a fan of Cilla. I generally find that this genre can be full of name-dropping and this was no exception. However, I appreciate that true celebrities are surrounded by other celebrities and of course Cilla, famously came up through the ranks with the Beatles so the many famous stars that are mentioned were unsurprising.

What I found most disappointing (apart from the fact that Cilla was a natural blonde - who knew?!) was that although she played the part of the 'girl next door' she came across in this book as such a prima Donna who made some really nasty and cutting comments about the participants of Blind Date. Plus every effort was about making money come what may. I remember her attending the first Blind Date wedding but we find here that she only attended when a £50k wage was agreed.

Her famed lasting and devoted marriage to her Bobby was confirmed which made me very happy.

Although I was disappointed with some of the information I discovered, I still liked the book and I'm glad I read it.

[Salli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book very hard to read because of the sycophantic style. The author seemed to spend so much time defending his subject that is gets in the way of the material. The material is thin and it feels like it has been gleaned from other quite light sources. Stories and episodes are repeated and the need to wander round the "town" of Denham and interview the locals (or was it taken from other sources, did he ever actually ever set foot in the place) to provide material seems lazy and incomplete. After all the area local to Cilla was built and based on working class people moving out from London boroughs. None of those local people were mentioned.
Overall I find this book puzzling and disappointing

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Douglas Thompson's biography of the late well-known presenter, entertainer, singer, author and actress Cilla Black, born Priscilla Maria Veronica White, is the perfect place to start for those who know nothing about her life. It is of a digestible, short length at just under 300 pages, and so does not go incredibly in depth into any part of her story, with the exception of Cilla's years presenting Blind Date, of which I found there to be an overwhelming amount of information and recounts of. At times it was tedious and difficult to get through, but overall it was enjoyable nevertheless.

There was absolutely no negativity within the book, and it is quite obvious that Thompson has a deep revere for Cilla. The way in which it is written is simple to understand - more in a school-aged essay type of way than a biographical format, and so it is not boring and the entire thing flows very well. I devoured this book; the life of Cilla is so interesting, and the author is adept at highlighting the most important parts of it and telling them in a way which keeps the reader engaged.

My only criticism is that the book is more about Cilla's career than her actual personal life, and touches only a little on her home life in the beginning when introducing where she comes from and how that contributed to her wanting to be a star. However, reading about her career - which I knew nothing about - was quite interesting, and so this is only a minor criticism rather than a real problem which I found with the work.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't a huge fan of Cilla Black, but I acknowledge that she was a trailblazer who spent decades at the top of her game. I enjoyed the sections relating to the early years, with Brian Epstein and the Beatles and also the sections relating to her long and happy marriage to Bobby, but felt too much emphasis was given to "Blind Date".

[Noel · Rating 2 out of 5]

seemed pretty good at the begining and the middle but the end focused mostly on blind date it was alright need to read something a bit more less focused on blind date.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audible and unfortunately the narration did not work for me. I found the Liverpool accent unauthentic and irritating and the other accents even worse.
The content of the book for the most part was interesting and seemed honest, noting the criticism as well as the praise for Cilla, but the last third was purely about Blind Date with far too much about the contestants, more annoying accents and very boring. On the whole I was left disappointed.

[Studvet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting because of its history and time set in. I did enjoy it but was poorly edited at times and seemed to chop and change time frames - likely because he used earlier material pre-2000 at times but didn't edit it and talks about 2000 in the future and the future for Cilla when he already earlier at the front discussed her death. Sloppy at times. Especially enjoyed the Blind Date segments

[David Highton · Rating 1 out of 5]

rubbish