Shirley
In 1938 mixed race baby Shirley Bassey, her mother and eight siblings are living in a poor area of Cardiff after her father is imprisoned for sexual offences. The teen-aged Shirley will help the family finances bringing her big, impassioned singing voice to local clubs and, in 1954, aged seventeen, she moves to London, impressing agent Mike Sullivan. To further her career however she must give up her illegitimate daughter Sharon to be raised as her own child by Shirley's sister Iris. After winning over the famously hostile Glasgow Empire audience Shirley has arrived. Impresario Jack Hylton stars her in the West End and she has hit records. She rides out gutter press interest in Sharon and, after a row with Mike, takes fledgling film producer Kenneth Hume as her agent and husband. Not only does he fail to further her career but he turns out to be a homosexual. Yet Shirley is a born survivor, weathering her divorce from Ken in 1965 and, decades later, still every inch a star, belting out the autobiographical song 'My Life'.
- Runtime
- 1h
- Released
- 2011
- Country
- United Kingdom
Details
Release year: 2011
Storyline
In 1938 mixed race baby Shirley Bassey, her mother and eight siblings are living in a poor area of Cardiff after her father is imprisoned for sexual offences. The teen-aged Shirley will help the family finances bringing her big, impassioned singing voice to local clubs and, in 1954, aged seventeen, she moves to London, impressing agent Mike Sullivan. To further her career however she must give up her illegitimate daughter Sharon to be raised as her own child by Shirley's sister Iris. After winning over the famously hostile Glasgow Empire audience Shirley has arrived. Impresario Jack Hylton stars her in the West End and she has hit records. She rides out gutter press interest in Sharon and, after a row with Mike, takes fledgling film producer Kenneth Hume as her agent and husband. Not only does he fail to further her career but he turns out to be a homosexual. Yet Shirley is a born survivor, weathering her divorce from Ken in 1965 and, decades later, still every inch a star, belting out the autobiographical song 'My Life'.
Top credits
Ruth Negga — Shirley Bassey
Lesley Sharp — Eliza Bassey
Babou Ceesay — Henry Bassey
Victoria Pugh — Neighbour
Did you know
• Lesley sharp had to wear brown contact lenses for her role.
• Ruth Negga is actually considered to be Irish-Ethiopian/Ethiopian-Irish, making her Welsh accent a good attempt, as she isn't from Wales. The real Shirley Bassey was actually born in Wales, to an English mother, and a Nigerian father, which means she could choose to refer to herself as Welsh-Nigerian or Nigerian-Welsh, although people widely think of her as just being Welsh, regardless of her "mixed" heritage.
User reviews
Great cast in a decent BBC drama
The Woman with the Midas touch
The one & only, Dame Shirley Bassey
Technical specs
- Color
- Color
