About
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About
Australian singer, actress & musician (zither). b. Melbourne 26 Oct., 1930
Began singing on radio and in nightclubs in 1946, and then as a performer in undergraduate revues at Sydney University. Played the lead role in a production of “Our Miss Gibbs” in 1949. Left for England in October 1952 with engagements in Singapore and Karachi along the way. In Singapore appeared at the Capitol Blue Room in November, 1952.
In the UK worked as a singer with Geraldo’s Orchestra, and eventually had her own programme on BBC Television, plus radio broadcasts on Radio Luxembourg. Appeared in the film “One Good Turn” (1954), the pantomime “Cinderella” and two Royal Command performances before returning to Australia in 1959. Returned to the UK in the 1960s and continued to live and work there.
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Troupe Role (hasRole)
| Role Title | Role Description |
|---|---|
| No troupe role information recorded. | |
Kinship and Relationship
| Person Involved | Kinship Type | Kinship Role | Other Kinship Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Kinship and Relationship information recorded. | |||
Character (performed)
| Character | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| – | – |
Other Work (hasWork)
| Work Title | Work Type | Work Description |
|---|---|---|
| London (1953) | Recording | – |
| Parlophone (1956-1957) | Recording | – |
| Fontana (1958-1959) | Recording | – |
| Columbia (1960) | Recording | – |
| Decca (1965) | Recording | – |
| Pye (1966-1967) | Recording | – |
| Piccadilly (1967) | Recording | – |
Routes
| Departure Date | From | Arrival Date | To | Via |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No routes information recorded. | ||||
Support (hasSupport)
| Supporter Name | Type of Support | Support Description |
|---|---|---|
| No support information recorded. | ||
Associated Performance(s)
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Image provided by Ross Laird.
Sources
Singapore Standard, November 1, 1952, 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
“Shirley Abicair, Now on Her Way to Sing at London’s Exclusive ‘400’ Club…” The Straits Budget, November 13, 1952, 12. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
Greig, Ramsden. 1955. “Miss Abicair Confesses by Candlelight.” Singapore Free Press, September 21, 1955, 13. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
Contributor
2025. “Shirley Abicair“. In Performing Archipelagos, edited by Kyueun Kim, Alvin Eng Hui Lim and Hedren Wai Yuan Sum. Singapore: National University of Singapore.
