Ruby Murray

Infobox musical artist
Name = Ruby Murray


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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ruby Florence Murray
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Born = birth date|1935|3|29|mf=y, Donegall Road, Belfast
Died = death date and age|1996|12|17|1935|3|29, Torquay, England
Origin =
Instrument = Singer
Genre =
Occupation = Singer, actress
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URL = [http://www.rubymurray.org/ www.rubymurray.org]
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Ruby Florence Murray (March 29, 1935 – December 17, 1996), from Northern Ireland, was one of the most popular singers in the United Kingdom in the 1950s.

Child star

Murray was born on the Donegall Road in south Belfast. [ [http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/town_Home.aspx?co=15&to=286&ca=0&sca=0&navID=1 Culture Northern Ireland website.] ] Her voice's unique sound was a result of an operation on her throat in early childhood. [ [http://www.rubymurray.org/ Official Website.] ] She toured as a child singer, and first appeared on television at the age of 12, having been spotted by producer Richard Afton. Due to laws governing children performing, Murray had to delay her start in the entertainment industry. She returned to Belfast and full time education until she was 14.

Number One single

Again spotted by Afton, she was signed to Columbia and her first single, "Heartbeat", reached the UK top 5 in 1954. Afton had offered her the position of resident singer on the BBC's Quite Contrary television show, to replace Joan Regan. [cite web
url = http://www.communigate.co.uk/sussex/bmbgat/page8.phtml
title = SINGERS OF THE FABULOUS FIFTIES
accessdaymonth = 24 September
accessyear = 2008
work = CommuniGate
publisher = This Is Sussex
location = United Kingdom] "Softly, Softly", her second single, reached No.1 the following year. That song was one of five in the Top Twenty in the same week in March — a record which still stands to this day. [ [http://www.rubymurray.org/bio.shtml Official website states that the Guinness Book of Records confirms this.] ]

The 1950s was a busy period for Murray, during which she had her own television show, starred at the London Palladium with Norman Wisdom, appeared in a Royal Command Performance, and toured the world. In a period of 52 weeks, starting in 1955, Murray constantly had at least one single in the charts.

She starred with Frankie Howerd in her only film rôle as Ruby in the 1956 farce "A Touch of the Sun".

Later personal life

During the summer of 1957, while working in Blackpool, Murray met Bernie Burgess, eventually leaving Northern Ireland to live with him in England. Burgess became her manager and the couple became a double act during the 1960s. After her first marriage failed she married Ray Lamar and lived in Torquay, Devon.

She died of liver cancer, aged 61, in December 1996 in Torquay, England) after a period of illness and alcoholism.

Ruby Murray's name lives on in Cockney rhyming slang as the rhyme for "curry", usually with the usage "ruby" rather than the name in full. [cite web |url=http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/translation/Cockney+Rhyming+Slang+%2528Transliterated%2529/ruby+murray|title=Ruby Murray rhyming slang |accessdate=2007-12-15 |work=Webster's Online Dictionary]

A play about Murray's life, "Ruby", written by Belfast playwright Marie Jones opened at the Group Theatre in Belfast in April 2000.

References

External links

* [http://www.rubymurray.org/ Official Website.]
* [http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirr/rubym.htm short biography]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ni/senseofplace/ramfiles/archive/ruby_murray.ram BBC recording of interview in 1956]
* [http://www.findmypast.com Deaths England and Wales 1984-2006]