Stephanie Lawrence

.

Background

Stephanie Lawrence was born in Hayling Island, Hampshire the daughter of a musician and classically trained dancer. Having trained at the Arts Educational School at Tring, Hertfordshire, she made her debut in "The Nutcracker" at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 1962. Her West End debut came at the age of 16, playing the part of a rollerskating tap dancer in "Forget Me Not Lane". Her first musical appearance in the West End was in "Bubbling Brown Sugar". In 1979 Hal Prince chose Stephanie to take over the role of Eva Peron in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita" from Marti Webb.

She left "Evita" to create the title role of Marilyn Monroe in "Marilyn", which won her outstanding reviews and the Best Actress of the Year Award from the Royal Variety Club of Great Britain as well as a nomination from the Society of West End Theatre Awards (now the Olivier Awards). "Marilyn" was followed by the part of Pearl in the original London production of "Starlight Express". In 1986 Stephanie took on her first dramatic part as Doris in "The Owl and the Pussycat" touring with Peter Davison. Soon after this she appeared at Oslo International Cabaret in her one woman show. Stephanie next appeared in a musical version of "The Blue Angel" at the Bristol Old Vic. She played the character of Lola-Lola, made famous by Marlene Dietrich in the movie of the same name.

In 1987 Stephanie took on the part of Louise in the musical "Time" written by Dave Clark. During her run in Time Stephanie was chosen to play the part of Frannie in the movie "Buster" alongside Phil Collins, Julie Walters and Larry Lamb. Directly after her run in "Time" Stephanie took on the role of Kate/Lili Vanessi in the RSC production of "Kiss Me Kate" at the Savoy Theatre. Christmas of 1988/1989 saw Stephanie playing the part of Cinderella in the classic pantomime with Lionel Blair as Buttons. In 1990 Stephanie toured once again, this time as The Woman of the World in the musical "Blues in the Night".

In 1990, Stephanie Lawrence took the role of Mrs. Johnstone in the revival of Willy Russell's "Blood Brothers". She played the role for three years at The Albery Theatre in London before moving to fill the role at the Music Box Theatre in New York (1993) where she was nominated for a Tony Award and won the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. Stephanie would play the part of Mrs Johnstone on and off for the next few years. Her last major part in the West End was as Grizabella in "Cats". Lawrence's other film credits include "The Likely Lads" and the role of Carlotta in "The Phantom of the Opera" (1989). Her hobbies included: gardening, clothes, music, water-skiing and riding.

Recordings

* You Saved My Life... with Johnny Mathis
* Bubbling Brown Sugar OLC
* Only He Has the Power to Move Me (single)
* Starlight Express OLC
* Am I Asking Too Much (single)
* Blood Brothers London Revival Cast
* Marilyn the Legend
* Footlights - debut solo album
* In The Red
* The Andrew Lloyd Webber Songbook
* Special Kind of Hero (World Cup 1986 theme)
* The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with Paul Nicholas

Television

* Royal Variety Performance 3 times
* Rod Argent Showcase
* The David Frost End of the Year Show
* The Two Ronnies
* The Benny Hill Show
* 6.55... a one woman show
* The Vocal Touch ... a one woman show for the BBC
* Night Music ... a one woman show for the BBC
* Des O'Connor
* Mike Yarwood Show
* Pebble Mill
* Wogan
* Live from the Palladium
* Live from Her Majesty's
* Jose Carreras Andrew Lloyd Webber tribute
* Summertime Special
* Jimmy Cricket
* Royal Night of 100 Stars
* Good Morning Britain
* Jim'll Fix It
* Blue Peter
* TV-AM
* The Rock Gospel Show
* The Mind of David Berglas
* The Les Dawson Show

Film

* "O Lucky Man!" (1973)
* "Buster" (1988)
* "The Likely Lads"
* "The Phantom of the Opera" (1989)

Theatre

* "The Nutcracker" (1962)
* "Forget Me Not Lane"
* "Bubbling Brown Sugar"
* "Evita"... as Eva Peron, following Marti Webb
* "Marilyn"... as Marilyn Monroe
* "Starlight Express" as Pearl
* "The Owl and the Pussycat" as Doris
* "Time" as Louise
* "The Blue Angel" as Lola-Lola
* "Kiss Me Kate" as Kate/Lili Vanessi
* "Blues in the Night" as The Woman of the World
* Willy Russell's "Blood Brothers"... as Mrs Johnstone. She made her only Broadway appearance in this role.
* "Cats" as Grizabella

Premature death

Lawrence never fully recovered from a back injury and she died 4 November 2000 at her London home from an alcoholic liver disease, aged 50.

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4086648,00.html Obituary] , "The Guardian", 6 November 2000
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2000/11/06/db01.xml Obituary] , "Daily Telegraph", 6 November 2000
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001108/ai_n14344180 Obituary] , "The Independent", 8 November 2000