| Marti Caine | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lynne Denise Shepherd 26 January 1944 Sheffield, South Yorkshire |
| Died | 4 November 1995 (aged 51) Wycombe, Buckinghamshire |
| Cause of death | Lymphatic cancer |
| Residence | Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Comedian, singer |
| Years active | 1975 - 1995 |
| Known for | Winner and presenter of New Faces. |
| Height | 5' 7" |
| Spouse | Malcolm Stringer (1962–1979) Kenneth Ives (1984–1995) |
Marti Caine, born Lynne Denise Shepherd (26 January 1944 - 4 November 1995) was an English actress, dancer, presenter, singer, writer, and comedienne who gained fame from the television talent show New Faces and became a major variety star.
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Her mother had a history of alcoholism and drug abuse after Lynne's father died from cancer and, during her childhood, Lynne suffered sexual abuse from her paternal grandfather.[1] Aged 17, she married the local butcher's boy and became "just another starry-eyed wannabe... married with two babies, an ex-beauty queen, stuck on a council estate, with little hope of fulfilling any dreams for a better life."[1] Aged 19 and unable to pay the £19 cost of her mother's funeral expenses, she auditioned as Lynne Stringer (her married name) at the Chapeltown Working Men's Club outside Sheffield.[1] This resulted in a three week stint singing under the name Sunny Smith, followed by a spell as Zoe Bond.[1] Her husband Malcolm Stringer chose her eventual stage name from a gardening book, though Marta Cane (tomato cane) was misspelled at an early gig and 'Marti Caine' remained with her.[1]
After working many years on the club circuit in Yorkshire as a stand-up comic and cabaret singer, she rose to national prominence when she appeared on the show New Faces in 1975. She won that year's competition, beating Lenny Henry and Victoria Wood (for whom she had immense professional respect, referring to her rival as 'uniquely talented...').[1] Marti went on to make more television appearances including the self titled Marti Caine on BBC2; showcasing her dance, comedic and musical talents. Among millions of fans who watched her TV performances could be counted Liberace (who compared her with Barbra Streisand) and her American counterpart Joan Rivers (who again cited Marti with admiration in the 2006 BBC series The Story of Light Entertainment [1]. Her seventeen-year marriage broke down in 1978, making front-page headlines in the national press. They had two sons, Lee, 16 and Max, 15. At the time, Marti was reputed to be earning over £100k pa. Marti married again eight years later, to the TV producer Kenneth Ives. During the 1980s, Marti returned to New Faces as its compëre - reviving the show into a ratings winner and leading to her catchphrase 'press your buttons now!'. A seasoned, versatile performer, as well as a talented actress, she also enjoyed playing to sell-out audiences in cabaret, pantomime, summer seasons, pier shows, as well as repertory, appearing frequently in Blackpool, Cambridge, Bath, Bournemouth and London. She successfully led a UK tour of the musical production Funny Girl, a role that could have been written for her. In 1986, she performed a one-woman show at London's Donmar Warehouse, co-writing fourteen songs about her life experiences or in her own words 'at least the bits I want to talk about...' (Woman magazine). In the same year, as well as hosting New Faces, she also starred in a BBC comedy series Hilary, written especially for her. A kind, sincere and honest woman, she was also highly insecure. She seldom refused an interview and never ducked an interviewer's question.[1] She told one journalist that 'Marti Caine' was loud, brassy and egotistical, whereas Lynne had no ego, enjoyed doing the housework and still saw herself as an ugly girl with long legs and a nose job.[1] Professionally, her aim as 'Marti Caine' was always to look drop-dead glamorous whatever discomfort she might have to suffer in the process.[1]
Marti recorded five albums, also working with Karl Jenkins who wrote a signature tune Quiet Please, The Lady's Gonna Sing using the theme from Sibelius's 5th Symphony. This was her third album, and her second with Jenkins, following the aptly titled Behind the Smile. The sweeping, theatrical, delivery of this title track contrasts with the easy, fluid style with which she approaches Ebony Eyes on the same album - the latter ending with a typically comedic flourish. However, her persona as cabaret host and comedienne seemed to prevent any serious inroads into commercial musical success - though her recordings were marketed globally, in areas as far-flung as Scandinavia, South America and Australasia - with huge numbers bought by television audiences. Her first album was so popular that it was re-released three times, with different covers, under two separate record labels. Marti's posthumous CD, released in 1996, was compiled from her BBC Radio shows, her musical director noting that "I was working with, arguably, 'the best female singer around' but who was, unfortunately, always thought of, first and foremost, as a comedienne..." This was a sentiment echoed in the sleeve notes of the 2000 retrospective You are awful... (Showbiz Comedy Titbits of the '60s and '70s) in which Mick Dillingham describes her as "Shirley Bassey with a hint of Eartha Kitt...". It raises the question: why was this track selected for a comedy album - instead of the genuinely comedic songs such as George or Sour Love Song? Marti's mid-career decision to play Sun City in South Africa during the years of apartheid was seen as a serious error of judgment by many (and as a result she was put on a United Nations blacklist). However, if naively, Marti felt she was supporting and working with the black community, of whom she writes with respect and admiration in her autobiography. A lover of black music, she recorded many Stevie Wonder songs, and dedicated a medley as a Tribute to Gladys Knight on her first studio LP.
Marti eventually succumbed to lymphatic cancer after a long battle, in 1995 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire [2]. She had spent the last years of her life campaigning tirelessly on behalf of cancer charities (the proceeds from her last album going directly to the Marti Caine Children with Leukaemia Trust). Marti once joked that 'chemo's a piece of cake after BBC coffee...' Her 1990 autobiography A Coward's Chronicles was a best seller: an intelligently written and brutally honest account of her extraordinary life story. She titled it A Coward's Chronicles to counteract the tabloid image of her as a paragon of courage and defiance. "You fight for dear life", she said, "because you are too cowardly to embrace death..."[1] She was a fan of modern art, and Mick Farrell's sculpture Sheen is dedicated to her. The sculpture was to have been unveiled by Marti, but she died two weeks before. [3] The sculpture, frequently referred to as Marti, is situated outside Sheffield Hallam University. In the same year, the university awarded her an honorary doctorate in recognition of her life achievements and her contribution to the world of entertainment. Dr Marti Caine also has a sweetpea variety named after her.
Autobiography: A Coward's Chronicles