EDMUND HOCKRIDGEEdmund Hockridge, who died on 15 March, 2009, aged 89, was a Canadian star of musicals who found fame in Great Britain during the post-war period.
He was one of the biggest names in musical theatre and took many songs from the West End into the pop charts.
Born into a musical family near Vancouver on 9 August, 1919, he began singing professionally at 17.
During the Second World War he entertained Allied troops in Europe singing with, among others, the Glenn Miller Band. He made more than 400 broadcasts for the BBC meaning that after the war he had instant popularity in Britain.
After working in Toronto for five years he returned to the UK in 1950, beginning several decades of immense popularity both as a stage actor and a singer of popular songs in variety.
His stage shows ranged from operas by Mozart, Britten and Gilbert and Sullivan, to glitzy musicals like Guys and Dolls, Can-Can and Pajama Game. He also performed in pantomime, Royal Command Performances and seasons at the London Palladium.
He settled with his family in Cambridgeshire but continued to perform internationally into his 80s, most recently with his wife Jackie and their two sons, Murray and Stephen.
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