EVE BOSWELL - PROGRAM SIGNED CIRCA 1952 CO-SIGNED BY: HARRY JACOBSON, JOSEF LOCKE, BETTY DRIVER - HFSID 146876

JOSEF LOCKE, CO-SIGNED BY: BETTY DRIVER, EVE BOSWELL, HARRY JACOBSON
1952 four-page program from the New Opera House in Blackpool, signed by undercard performers Jacobson and Boswell and headliners Locke and Driver
Program signed "Betty Driver" on biography page, "Harry Jacobson" and "Best Wishes/Eve Boswell" on performance list and "Josef Locke" on back cover, all in blue ink. 4 pages (including covers), 7x9¾, 1 sheet folded, front and verso. White-on-purple printing on front cover, brown-on-white printing inside and on back cover. This program is from a June 29, 1952 performance at The New Opera House in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, produced and presented by Harold Fielding of London. Jacobson and Boswell both warmed up the crowd on the undercard for Driver, who performed before the interval, and Locke, who performed after. LOCKE (1917-1999) is an Irish actor and tenor. He started singing in local churches at seven. He joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary after a stint with the Palestine Police Force in the late 1930s. Locke became a local celebrity as "The Singing Bobby", eventually touring the United Kingdoms' variety circuit, including 19 seasons in the resort of Blackpool. He began recording in 1947, when he released his signature song Hear My Song, Violetta, made his first radio broadcast in 1949 and made a few TV and movie appearances. But tax problems forced Locke to cut his career at the peak of his career in 1958. After settling up with the taxman, he retired, with intermittent public appearances until the 1970s. DRIVER (1920-2011) is probably best known as Betty Turpin (later Betty Williams) from the British soap opera Coronation Street, beginning in 1968. She gained fame in the 1930s and 1940s as a big band singer, singing on the radio show Henry Hall's Guest Night and her own show, A Date with Betty, before moving to the West End stage. She auditioned for Coronation Street in 1964, but lost the role of Hilda Ogden to actress Jean Alexander. She retired after sustaining a back injury on the TV series Pardon the Expression, but came out of retirement for her most famous role: Turpin on Coronation Street. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire on the last day of 1999. BOSWELL (1922-1998) was a pop singer with several hit songs in Britain around the 1950s. She toured with her parents in England as The Three Hugos during World War II before marrying and touring South Africa, where she became a star. Bandleader Geraldo persuaded her to return to England as part of his band in 1949, but they parted ways in 1952. Her hits included Sugar Bush (1952), which she sung in Afrikaans, and Pickin' a Chicken (1956), which peaked at No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart. Her career declined in the 1960s, and she eventually moved back to South Africa. JACOBSON is a pianist who plays his own compositions as well as impressions of other pianists. He has performed with Betty Driver, Frances Day and Florence Desmond. Lightly toned, soiled, scuffed and creased. Pen skipped when signing Driver's signature. Light tears on right and bottom edges. Folded twice and unfolded. Folds and spine of program are worn and torn. Otherwise in fine condition.