00:14The American Pronunciation Guide Presents «How to Pronounce Gracie Fields»
00:22Gracie Fields was one of the foremost British musical stars of the 1930s
00:28and known as Our Gracie.
00:30She revelled in her public persona as a simple girl from Rochdale made good.
00:36After laying this stone, she climbed a ladder and sang to the workmen.
00:41A publicity stunt, of course, but it's the sort of thing Our Gracie was loved for.
00:46It's got so blooming I, it's the biggest aspenester in the world.
00:52I remember seeing her in a club, working men's club, well,
00:56a posh working men's club, a Batley variety club,
00:59and they brought her over, you know, and she was quite an old lady.
01:03She went on there to do her turn, and they'd had everybody there,
01:06you know, from Sammy Davis Jr., you know, everybody.
01:09Gracie Fields, here's another one, you know,
01:12oh, chicken in a basket and all that, we'll see what she can do.
01:15So she goes on there, Sally, Sally, quite polite applause.
01:18She sings the first song, all right, but by now they're thinking,
01:22who is this old broad, you know, so a bit more applause,
01:26less applause for the third number, and so I was there,
01:30and she turned to the conductor, and all the music went up in the air,
01:34and she sang the song that was number one in the hit parade that week.
01:38Those were the days, my friend, I thought they'd never...
01:41That absolutely won them over, and she couldn't go wrong from that moment on.
01:45But thinking on her feet, great performers like that.
01:49It's the biggest aspirin to stand in the world!
