Lorie Mann (December 21, 1931 – 1998) was a British singer who although a lesser known artist, appeared extensively on radio and television during the early 60’s.
Lorie was born Barbara Burke in Paddington, West London and attended St. Augustine's School in Kilburn. She was the eldest of five children born to William and Iris Burke and as a child undertook singing and dancing lessons.Along with the rest of her family she was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War, and entertained the troops at the young age of twelve. Her family had no stage associations at all but Lorie soon gained valuable experience when she joined an acrobatic group called Oika Troika and later as a juvenile actress and singer.
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Singers L-R: Matt Munro, Mike Preston, Lorie Mann and Frank Ifield are pictured at ITV's 1961 "Song Contest". |
Whist working at a Butiln Holliday Camp in Scarborough , she met her future husband, Austin Newman who later became her manager - he was also the manager of stars such as Helen Shapiro, Donovan, Nancy Whiskey, and the King Brothers to name a few.
Lorie appeared and sang in several advertisements for Timex watches and VP wine amongst others. She was a guest on the Dave King Show and appeared in Jazz Jamboree at the Gaumont State Theatre in Kilburn on Sunday 23rd June 1958 as vocalist with the Oscar Rabin Orchestra.
Her most popular recording was a version of Brook Benton's 'So Many Ways/I Wonder' released in 1959 on Top Rank Records JAR 237. Other releases for that label included JAR 116 'A Penny A Kiss, A Penny A Hug' and 'Just Keep It Up/You Made Me Care' on JAR 148. In 1961 Lorie joined the Viscounts on their LP “Razzamatazz And All That Jazz” on the Pye label. This was a spin off from the lost ATV series “All That Jazz.”
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'Oh boy' TV show (l-r rear) 2 Dallas Boys, Bill Forbes, Peter Elliot, Marty Wilde, Don Storer, Cliff Richard, Mike Preston, Billy Fury, Cuddly Dudley and Red Price (l-r front) 3 Dallas Boys, Cherry Wainer, Lorie Mann, Dickie Pride, Don Lang, Neville Taylor. |
She appeared extensively on radio and television during the early 60’s but unfortunately her marriage failed and she and her husband were divorced. This is where Lorie’s Internet trail goes cold; but I did find this last entry on ohboy.org.uk…..Sadly, Lorie suffered a stroke and was never the same after that and died in 1998 at the age of 66. (Mainly edited from ohboy.org.uk)
Footnote: If anyone has more information about Lorie, then please contact me.
Here's 'OH BOY!' SHOW # 30 (Compered by Tony Hall) With Lord Rockingham's XI, Red Price, The Dallas Boys, Neville Taylor & The Cutters, Cherry Wainer, The Vernons Girls. Special guests include Brenda Lee, Chris Andrews, Dickie Pride, Dean Webb, Don Lang, Lorie Mann, Mike Preston and Tony Sheridan.
This is one of only two shows found in a search of the old ABC archives.
The other surviving show is the final edition from 30th May 1959, clips of which have been widely used on commercial television. The original 16mm telerecordings of both shows are retained in the archives of Canal Image Plus who now own the copyright to ABC material. During the sixties it is believed ABC retained 13 titles of “Oh Boy!” on it shelves (given catalogue numbers 1- 13, these originals were then copied for export to America.)
In the intervening years, eleven of the original 13 have disappeared, (leaving just shows 5 and 13) much to the chagrin of John Heron, head of British sales at Canal Image, who would dearly love to see the missing shows returned. “They are one of the most popular titles requested from our catalogue,” said John, “ Television researchers making documentaries are having to re-use the same old clips time and time again due to the scarcity of material available.”