1. Ivy Benson was an English musician and bandleader, who led an all-female swing band.
17 Facts About Ivy Benson
1. 2.
Ivy Benson was born on 11 November 1913 in Holbeck, Leeds, the daughter of Douglas Rolland "Digger" Ivy Benson and his wife Mary Jane Mead.
3.
Ivy Benson played at working men's clubs from the age of eight, billed as Baby Benson, and performed on BBC Radio's Children's Hour aged nine.
4.
Ivy Benson's father had ambitions for her to become a concert pianist, but she was inspired to become a jazz musician after hearing a Benny Goodman record and learned to play clarinet and alto saxophone.
5.
Ivy Benson left school at 14 and took a job at the Montague Burton factory in Leeds, putting aside half a crown from her wages each week to save up for her first saxophone.
6.
Ivy Benson supplemented her income by playing in dance bands in the evenings.
7.
Ivy Benson joined Yorkshire-based six-piece band Edna Croudson's Rhythm Girls in 1929, touring with them until 1935, after which she toured with bands including Teddy Joyce and the Girlfriends where she became a featured soloist.
8.
Ivy Benson moved to London in the late 1930s and formed her own band.
9.
Ivy Benson continued to lead the band until the early 1980s, adapting to changing tastes by adding pop tunes to the band's repertoire in the 1960s.
10.
Ivy Benson appeared as herself with a speaking role in the feature film The Dummy Talks, which starred Jack Warner.
11.
Ivy Benson was the subject of an episode of the UK tribute show This Is Your Life in 1976.
12.
Ivy Benson retired to the seaside resort of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, occasionally entertaining local holidaymakers on the electric organ.
13.
Ivy Benson married theatrical producer Caryll Stafford Clark in 1949; the couple divorced in 1951.
14.
Ivy Benson suffered a heart attack at her home and died on 6 May 1993, aged 79.
15.
Ivy Benson was made an honorary fellow of Leeds Polytechnic in 1988, the only significant honour she received during her lifetime.
16.
In 1984, The Silver Lady, a play by Liane Aukin based on Ivy Benson's life, was staged at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
17.
Ivy Benson is mentioned in the 'Grieg's Piano Concerto, by Eric Morecambe' comedy sketch, featuring Andre Previn, shown on the BBC 'Morecambe and Wise' show, in 1971.