Lena Zavaroni
b. 4 November 1963, Rothesay, Scotland. This winsome singer came down from the Isle of Bute in Scotland during late 1973 to sing her way to victory over a season of ITV's OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS talent showcase. She was signed to manager Dorothy Solomon, partner of '60s' impresario Phil Solomon. Zavaroni gained a recording contract and reached the UK Top 10 almost immediately with a revival of the Johnny Otis Show's Ma He's Making Eyes At Me—which was tied-in with a best-selling album. In 1974 too, her version of Lloyd Price's Personality was a lesser hit. These chart strikes were a firm foundation for the exploitation of young Zavaroni as an all-round entertainer via a world tour, extensive television guest appearances, headlining at the London Palladium, a Royal Command Performance and her own BBC 1 series. However, her career had faded to virtual semi-retirement by the '80s, blighted as it was by anorexia nervosa—and the popular media's intrusive focus on unhappy Lena's incomplete success in regaining her health.