LENA ZAVARONIFew singing stars have been thrust into the spotlight of fame as young as Lena Zavaroni who died on 1 October, 1999, aged 35.
The Scottish starlet was only 10 when she won the television talent show, Opportunity Knocks, for a record-breaking five weeks in a row. At the same age she became at the time the youngest person to have a top 10 album in the UK charts.
During the mid 1970s she was barely out of the spotlight, becoming a household name all over the world including America where she sang for President Ford in the White House at the age of 11.
Lena Zavaroni was born on 4 November, 1963, in the small town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. She grew up in a council house where her father, Victor, would play guitar and her mother, Hilda, would sing. It was no surprise when she began singing at the age of two.
She began singing in public at the age of six and would regularly win local talent contests. Her success story began in 1973 when record producer, Tommy Scott, who was on holiday on the Isle of Bute saw her singing with the Zavaroni Family Band.
Mr Scott contacted impresario, Phil Solomon, and the pair travelled to Scotland to see Miss Zavaroni perform. Mr Solomon was not disappointed and within weeks she was under the management of Mr Solomon’s partner, Dorothy Solomon.
She exploded onto British television screens on Opportunity Knocks at the end of 1973. Her elfin looks, stage presence and powerful voice proved an irresistible combination and she won the viewers' vote five times.
By January 1974, she was at number 8 in the UK Charts with Ma, He’s Making Eyes at Me, in the process becoming the youngest ever person to perform on Top of the Pops. She was still only 10.
Before long, Ms Zavaroni was stunning American audiences alongside Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball at a Hollywood charity event, playing sell-out concerts at the London Palladium and making television appearances all over the world.
In 1976 she attended the Italia Conti Stage School in London where she met fellow child star, Bonnie Langford. The two became friends and would later go on to star in their own television show, “ Lena and Bonnie.”
Still a teenager, Miss Zavaroni was given her own shows on television such as “Lena Zavaroni and Music” and “Lena Zavaroni on Broadway”.
Sadly she suffered from the eating disorder anorexia and depression which forced her to stop working.
In 1999 she succumbed to bronchial pneumonia.
After Lena Zavaroni’s death, her friend Bonnie Langford said: “I am deeply saddened that such a lovely person is no longer with us. She was an incredibly gifted and very sweet person. It is a tragedy that she died so young.”
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