Shirley Bassey's life to made into TV film

LONDON — The BBC is to make a television film of the glamourous but dramatic life of singer Dame Shirley Bassey, who triumphed over muddy conditions to wow Glastonbury audiences a few years ago.Cardiff-born Bassey, who grew up in poverty in the city's docklands, is the daughter of a British mother and Nigerian father and left school at 15 to work in a local factory.She sang in working men's clubs before she was discovered by band leader Jack Hylton.Her career almost ended before it began after she became pregnant at 17 but she survived the scandal of being a young unmarried mother to become a massive star.Some of her biggest hits include themes to James Bond films including Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever.The film is the latest in a string of BBC bio-pics of entertainment legends. Carry On stars Hattie Jacques and Frankie Howerd have both been the subject of films and the award-winning Eric And Ernie looked at the early days of comic duo Morecambe and Wise.The film about Dame Shirley, which is billed as showing her "difficult rise from poverty to international stardom", is part of a BBC2 season about mixed-race life in Britain.Other programmes include a three-part series, called Mixed Britannia, presented by journalist George Alagiah, and a documentary about twins born with different skin colours.Many music fans were sceptical when Glastonbury organisers announced Bassey would be a headline act at the 2007 festival but her glamour and her exhuberant performance soon won the crowd over.Dressed in a pink frock and a feather boa, complete with jewel-encrusted shoes, Bassey was reportedly carried to the stage rather than trudge through the sludge in rubber boots.On her way home bad weather forced the pilot of her helicopter to land in a school field and she had to wait for the caretaker to come and unlock the school gate to let them out. Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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