DOROTHY SQUIRES - PROGRAM SIGNED CIRCA 1948 CO-SIGNED BY: GEORGIE WOOD, BILLY REID - HFSID 146753

DOROTHY SQUIRES, BILLY REID and GEORGIE WOOD
Program featuring the Reid/Squires musical team and "Wee" Georgie Wood with his stage "mother."
Program Page signed: "Georgie Wood" and on verso "Bill Reid". "Dorothy Squires", 2p, 4½x7. No place, Week commencing July 26, 1948. The performers have signed next to their respective listings on the program: "6. Georgie Wood with Dolly Harmer, 'Radio's Mother and Son'"; "9. Billy Reid - Composer of 'The Gypsy,' 'I'll Close My Eyes,' 'A Tree in the Meadow' and Dorothy Squires, Radio's Inimitable Songstress". GEORGIE WOOD (1894-1979), a 4'9" music hall star, performed for many years (1917-1953) with Dolly Harmer as a mother and son comedy act. They toured tirelessly together entertaining British troops during World War II. Orchestra leader and songwriter BILLY REID (1902-1975) paired up for many years with Welsh singer DOROTHY SQUIRES (1915-1998). With Reid writing most of her songs, Squires became one of England's most popular vocalists. Several of the Reid/Squires songs were covered by American artists and became big hits in the states. These included two of the songs mentioned on this program: "The Gypsy", recorded in the US by the Ink Spots and by Dinah Shore; and "A Tree in the Meadow", sung for American audiences by Margaret Whiting. After breaking up with Reid in 1951, Squires married aspiring British actor Roger Moore in 1953 and did much to further his career. Squires and Moore separated in 1961, divorced in 1969. Squires exhausted her considerable fortune in unsuccessful lawsuits, including a case against another British actor who referred to her as Roger Moore's wife. Lightly soiled. Paper thinning at top and bottom portions of Reid/Squires side obscures some unimportant printed text. Otherwise, fine condition.