
|
| This biography is built on many sources. It began with
notes from Sir H and has been augmented with information from magazines,
newspapers, people who knew Sabby, and my interviews with Sabrina. There
is no guarantee that any of these facts is 100% accurate: it's the weird
inconsistencies in the Sabrina story that make it so interesting! |
Also see
|
1936
|
|
19 May 1936: Norma Ann Sykes was born to Annie and Walter Sykes in
the maternity wing of Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Cheshire,
England.

Norma's birth certificate - thanks to David J.
Click it to read about the birthday investigation.
She lived at 25 Buckingham Street, Heaviley, Stockport for
about 13 years, attending St
George's School, 0.77 km away on Buxton Rd at the corner of Mile End Lane. Find out about the bells
at St George's Church.

Aerial view of Sabby's childhood home
Hear the tenor bell of St George's Church (mp3, 9K).
[Hmmm. Should I be getting worried that my research
may be getting a little too fastidious? Nahhh!] |
1937
|
|
19 May - turns 1
July 1937 - Norma has her first known photo bunny shoot.

Norma Ann Sykes (destined to be Sabrina) at 14 months
|
1939 - 1945
|
|
A temporary interruption to the Sabrina story. While many people
ran around with guns, Sabrina had the wisdom to turn 3, 4, 5 ,6, 7, 8 and
9.
Sabrina herself confirmed that
she was a swimming champion and planned to swim the English Channel. She
was in training in Stockport at the age of nine - at which age she could
beat girls aged 15. She swam a mile a day at the YWCA at nine years of
age. Her secret to swimming was a "special way of turning" and a lengthy underwater
swim after the starting dive.
July 1945 - Norma (yet-to-be-Sabrina) Sykes, at the tender age of ten, has her class photo taken at Cale Green (Middle) School in Stockport, Cheshire. Sent in by classmate Peter (front row, third from right), Sabrina stands in the back row, fourth from the left.
The teacher (at left) is Mr Fletcher, and at the far right is the principal, Mr Urmston. Thanks, Peter: this is great Sabrinastuff!
And young 1945 Norma Sykes (left) ... and approx 1957 (right)
Kiddies: can you spot two differences between these pictures?
Gosh! What clever fellows you are!
Yes - there are no hair ribbons, and the dress is a different shade of grey!
 
|
Circa 1948
|
|
19 May - turns 12
The "Box
of Delights" book notes that she was "the junior breast
stroke champion of Manchester" at the age of 12. (I'll wait a minute
for you all to stop sniggering and return to your desks.) Thanks to Paul
Walsh for finding this vital snippet.
Mrs Beryl Ellis (email), who walked baby Sabrina in her pram, also says she
was a very good swimmer and won lots of medals for the school.

See More Sabrina Swimming Snaps
Norma's mother, Annie (neé Haslam) was a seamstress and had bright ginger
hair. Her father, Walter Sykes, worked in Mechanical Engineering (he
was not a coal miner) and was a natural blonde and had curly hair.
Norma Ann was a natural blonde (though she often wore blonde wigs too.)

As a teenager, Norma Ann contracted polio for four years, and was hospitalised
for two years. A leg operation nearly proved serious enough to require amputation,
and left her right ankle scarred.
[From 'Lowdown 1963'] "Doctors
feared she would be crippled for life, but prescribed a rugged series of
exercises to develop her muscles. Each day, she spent hours swimming in a
heated pool and performing bodybuilding feats. Her remarkable chest
expansion is a direct result of these workouts. From a 97-pound weakling,
she became an anatomical wonder. Besides her overdeveloped pectoral muscles,
she also built powerful arms and legs. When she finally left the hospital,
she was as strong as she was healthy. She had lost touch with most
of her schoolmates during her long illness and she didn't want to return
to school with younger classmates, so she set out for London to show off
her new physique."
The daughter of one of Norma's schoolfriends reported that Norma didn't have
many friends while at school. The girls were jealous, and the boys would follow
her around,
"you know, boys being boys."
In later years Norma often wore unfashionably long skirts, because she was
self-conscious about her scarred leg. She was careful in later photo sessions
to conceal the scars from the camera.
Norma Ann and her family moved from Stockport
in about 1947, where she said in her
interview that she attended Tilby Road (sp?) and Tivoli
High School until
1952 when she left school at the age of
15.
Her
mother
ran
a
private hotel off Central Drive, Blackpool.
According to another source [Leslie]
who says he knew Sabrina, her mother and father were in Beeston, Leeds,
Yorkshire before leaving Leeds to open a boarding house in Blackpool
located by the gas works opposite Central pier. Sabrina was said to have attended Fleetwood
Girls High School. (Fleetwood is north of Blackpool. Sabrina
does not mention this school.)
|
1952
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|
1953
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|
19 May - turns 17
At the age of 16 Norma went
to London. JavaJim reports she went with David Whitfield the
singer of Carra Mia Mine, but Sabrina
denies it. She worked as a waitress in a seamy
section of London.

Sabby and David Whitfield, 5 Nov 56
Between meals, she was kept busy serving slaps and roundhouse rights
to the spivs, toffs and Teddy boys who kept trying to find out if her
measurements were real.
When she tired of slinging punches as well as hash, she got a job as a housemaid.
She walked into the Labor Exchange, asked for
a job as a maid. The stunned clerk asked, "MMMilkmaid?" When
his gaze finally climbed to her face, Sabrina said, "No. Housemaid." [Picture
Digest 1956. Also reported in Uncensored
1958]
As a housemaid she encountered the same old pinches and pats, though
in a more genteel
way. When her
employer tried a little 'slap and tickle',
she floored
him with a resounding slap. Out of work again during these tough times,
one day she was scanning the help wanted ads when she noticed
a call for models, no experience needed.
The place was a tiny studio, where the sixteen year old Norma
posed naked, but it bothered her, so she never
went back. (Read about the photographer,
Russell Gay)

Read up on the nudie facts
It turns out that the photos she
made
actually
started
her in show business. Alex Sterling, the noted British glamour
photographer happened to see the pictures and he summoned
her to his studio. The resultant
work was viewed in London's picture magazines and the public took notice.
After being rejected by leading photographers for being "too voluptuous" she
diets and reveals her wasp-like waist. She gets cheesecake work in such
men's magazines as "Spick" and "Span".
Nigel reports that "in the early days of her time in London
she tried to get taken on as a Harrison Marks model and .... they
turned her down. Harrison Marks went on to be the most famous photographer
of the nude female form in the country (in the world?) but friends
and colleagues in the business would forever remind him of the one
who got away. The answer I believe was that when she was very
young and raw she just wasn't that great to look at. I think she must
have developed quite quickly in London, been taught how to dress, put
on weight as she ate better and generally filled out between the ages
of 16 and 18"
There was a fight amongst agents to get to Sabrina first.
Offers poured in asking to represent her. She almost quit when nearly
everyone she talked to promised to make her a star, and wanted her to
drop up to their cosy flats,
have a drink and talk it over.
Sabrina picked Bill Watts as her agent. He signed her to
a five year contract. She continues cheesecake modelling and appears
on several prominent magazines' front covers. She never posed nude again because, as she said in the interview, she didn't need to.

The earliest ever professional shot of of
our Sabby.
Sabrina, who sent it to me, is particularly fond of this photo. |
1954
|
|
April 1954: 'Blighty'
10 April 1954 - pre-Sabrina days.

About this time TV producer Bill Ward was looking for a girl
for the Beauty Spot feature in Arthur Askey's TV series Before
Your Very Eyes, and when Sabrina's photograph was sent in by her
agent, along with 23 others, he decided his search was over. The rest
is history. Norma became Sabrina.
19 May - turns 18
|
1955
|
|
Such was Sabrina's fame that when the 1954 Audrey Hepburn film
of the same name was shown in Britain, it had to be renamed Sabrina Fair.
8 January 1955: Appears on the cover and centrefold of Picture
Post. Do we have evidence? Of course we do - thanks to
Sabrina Fan David J! The appearance was entitled A
Lancashire choice to beat the Italian Beauties.

Click the pic to see Sabrina's Norma Sykes' breakthrough!
The very staid Post was the largest selling magazine in Britain
at the time and it signalled the emergence of Norma Sykes as the leading
photographic model in Britain at that time which is why she gets
her break as the glamour component of Arthur Askeys new show on
BBC TV a month later.
17 February 1955

Thanks to Miss DiDi Mau for posting this
to alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.vintage on 17 Aug 02. The caption reads: "Sabrina Yearling - Sabrina, the
television actress celebrated at the Albany Club, London Feb 17 her first
year in show business as Sabrina.. 17 Feb 1955"
Appears
in Span #6, Feb 55 as 'Miss
Norma Ann Sykes'.
Appears in 'Spick' - February & May 1955
Read Arthur Askey's autobiographical account
of how he gave Sabrina her start on TV.
18 February 1955 -- first appears on Before
Your Very Eyes, the Arthur Askey show, on BBC 8 episodes.
See Sabrina on Before Your Very Eyes in 1958 with Arthur Askey. Thanks to Roger!

The BBC goes Berserk! (Picturegoer, 19 March 1955) - recounts the rampant publicity the BBC engaged in to pre-promote Sabrina's first TV appearance.
She had one line to say, "Doesn't it make you want
to spit?" But it wasn't what she said during the show, it was her
remark after that started her on the way to fame. Invited to a backstage
party after the premiere, a group of critics seized on Sabrina and asked
what, besides one line, she really did in the show. She shrugged. Then
she said. "I really don't know. I'm just a dumb blonde."
The remark made every paper and from then on Sabrina was in the "A" list
and was being wined and dined in London's costliest restaurants such
as La Rue's, Simpson's and the Dorchester, a favourite place of Princess
Margaret.
"Before Your Very Eyes! was only moderately
well received by critics and public alike, until the introduction of
the completely dumb voluptuous blonde,
Sabrina (Norma Sykes), whose fondness for tight fitting dresses turned
her into British TV's first sex-symbol." (Source)
Out of nowhere, the nudes Sabrina had taken months earlier (by
Russell Gay), suddenly appeared on playing cards, along with those of other
girls. The newspapers latched onto the story.

The Sabrina Nudie Card Page
She
becomes a household name overnight as Sabrina. The revelations
of the nude photography as
a 16 year old did not dent her appeal they may have helped. But
she apparently hated the photos and was arrested for destroying them
whenever
she found
them on sale. According to Confidential,
"Sabrina visited the office of the playing card distributor and systematically
proceeded to wreck the joint.
Sabrina complained to Detective Superintendent Steve Glander of Scotland Yard. "I
was only a kid of 16 when those photos were taken," she
sobbed to him. "I was not going to admit defeat to my parents and
ask them for train fare home. Please stop them from publishing pictures
of me in the
nude. I will do anything to stop them from being circulated."
Sabrina was determined not to remain just another
dumb blonde. She applied herself
to singing, elocution and deportment lessons.
A sixteen-week variety tour followed her TV series, and this had her
topping the bill after only four hours' rehearsal. This tour was a big
disappointment to Sabrina, however, for she soon discovered that all
she was required to do was to drape herself decoratively against the
side of the stage while cross-talk comedians wove their gags around her. 
Sabrina and Arthur Askey boosted each others careers:
they both knew a good thing when they saw it.
April - Beauty Parade

19 May - turns 19
'66'
magazine - a Sabrina souvenir. (1955)

London England 1955 - Televised Tea Party at BBC television centre. All
Star invite to open the new women's television programme. Pictured are Denis
Spicer, Dummy James Green, and Sabrina
Make
Way for Sabrina! Picturegoer, 25 June. During the making
of Stock Car.
Sabrina
Washes Her Hair, A.M. 21 June. Some of the best ever pictures
of Sabrina. She is barely 19 years old.
One Look and all Britain
Gasped - People June 29, 1955
Appears in her first movie, Stock
Car, but her carefully-trained voice has been redubbed with a harsh
Cockney accent. Sabrina is furious...
According to Speedway And Stock Car World of 7 July 1955, Sabrina made an appearance at a Birmingham stock car meeting with Bill "Mad" Mason.

18 July - December 1955: Sabrina debuts in variety: French Capers. At venues including Palace Theatre, Leicester, Chiswick Empire (London) and Palace Theatre (Chelsea)


3 November 1955

Glamorous radio and Television star Sabrina arriving at the Gaumont Cinema Haymarket London to attend the premiere of the film To Hell and Back
November 1955: ... as described in 'Don't
Make a Mug out of Me says Sabrina' - Picturegoer Nov 12, 1955.
November 1955: Featured in Beautiful Britons
November
1955 - Male - inside front and back covers!
 
November 1955: Appeared at the Fashion Designers' Ball held at the
Royal Festival Hall.

3
Dec 55 - Sabrina's
thoughts on Marilyn Monroe - Picturegoer
Date unknown: Sex-quisite
- A Sabrina Album - a Sabrina-sized compendium, year unknown.
Date unknown: Sabrina through the looking
glass. Best of QT (1950s)
|
1956
|
|
Appears in the 'super revue' "This'll Make You Laugh" with
Tessie O'Shea, Nat Jackley, Arthur Worsley, The Nitwits, TV Toppers And Marianne
Lincoln. See the This'll Make You Laugh page.

I'm guessing and hoping the yellow lady is Sabrina.
If not, just pretend it is.
January 1956: England's
Jayne Mansfield - People.
12 January 1956: Bird show. OLYMPIA, ENGLAND: Sabrina makes kissing noises at mynah bird in cage.
February 1956: When she showed up to ceremonially open a Sheffield
hardware store, four thousand people turned out to see her, resulting
in a massive traffic jam. It turned into a near-riot when her dress strap
broke.
According to a different story (QT,
May 61), "she was attending a premier in Birkenhead and wearing
a black velvet evening dress that fit her like a second skin. The crowd
pressed close to admire the terrain and some lout stepped on the star's
train. There was a warning sound of tearing fabric, followed by a sight
for sore male eyes. Sabrina had been wearing nothing under the dress from
the waist up, and her braless bosom sprang almost into full view. The
heroine swooned at that point, and so did several sturdy lads among the
onlookers. The bobbies had to be summoned to keep order."

The second series of BYVE was screened in 1956-1958 on
ITV.
6 February
1956: Stars in a British Pathé newsreel having her picture
taken at a Bourne and Hollingsworth's department store. See
the story.

March 1956: Appears
in PhotoPlay
26th May 1956 - Presents 20th Gold Collar
Classic Final Trophy at Catford.

April
1956: Appears on cover of Carnival (see her other covershots here)

19 May - turns 20 years old
June 1956 - Double
Feature, Beautiful Britons #8
July 1956: Sabrina
and Corinne - Span #23
July 1956: When Sabrina was shot in the nude! Lowdown
July 28, 1956: What now for Sabrina? - Picturegoer
July
1956 - Elementary
My Dear Watson, Point
11 August 1956: Appears in 'Blighty'
15 September 1956: Why
Sabrina Won't Talk, Picture
Week
September 1956: England's
Jayne Mansfield - People,
October 1956: Sabrina was on the bill for the 1956 Royal Command
Variety Performance in London as a 'surprise artist'

Sabby and David Whitfield, 5 Nov 56,
at the Royal Variety Performance rehearsal
at the London Palladium.
She was very disappointed
when the show is cancelled due to the Suez Canal crisis

...which is why we dont have pix of Sabrina meeting
the Queen...
Or do we?

I just bet you boys would kill for a picture
of Sabrina mournfully inspecting the dress she would have worn to the Variety
Performance. Here
'tis! It is of sugar pink lame with shaded pink net.
'Hard Luck Sabrina 5 Nov 56' - Mail
3 September 1956:
Sabrina helps judge a bathing beauty contest in Morcambe with the likes
of Ben Lyon and Dickie Valentine. Visit British
Pathé to see it.
1956
photoshoot newsreel of Sabrina in glorious technicolour - yes, folks!
People who lived before 1960 did have flesh tones!
13 October 1956: What
I Think About Men - TV Mirror
October 1956: Cover
and article, Picture Digest - nudie card disclosures!

Click to read the article
She was the guest of honour at the Savoy Luncheon at the Variety Club
of Great Britain.
Appears with Arthur Askey in the movie Ramsbottom
Rides Again.
November 1956: Eye
Stopper from Britain, Adventure Magazine
The Samba Sabrina? You bet! She was
a 1956 cultural icon and here is the proof! Click the pic to enter the
competition and record the Samba Sabrina! And as for the lyrics, it's
not too hard: "Sa-bri-na.... Sa-bri-na"

|
1957
|
Sabrina appeared on the Steve Allen TV show in America - episode 2.38 (1957) and 3.24 (1958). Thanks to Matt we have a video of Sabrina's 1958 sketch on the Steve Allen Show with Tom Poston. |
Releases her hit
single containing Persuade Me and A Man and Not a Mouse
3 January 1957: Appears at film premiere of Giant, at the Warner Theatre in London.
5 January 1957: 'Blighty'
17
Jan 1957 - Hark! Sabrina
has broken her silence! Australasian Post
7th February 1957- Sabrina appeared at the Gaumont State
Theatre in Kilburn with Arthur Askey who compered the launch of the Vauxhall
Victor.
18 February 1957 - Sabrina was present at the Lyceum London with Jill Ireland, Tony Wright, Steve Cochran and Sam Costa for the presentation to Norman Wisdom as the Comedian of the year.
20 April 1957: Opens in Pleasures of Paris [Plaisirs de Paris] at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London. With: GEORGE and BERT BERNARD, DICKIE HENDERSON, THREE MONARCHS. Source.
28th March 1957 - Major
Beatti oversaw the making of Thoresby
Hall in Sherwood Forest open to the general public. To mark this auspicious
occasion he invited the voluptuous but silent blonde celebrity Sabrina. At
that time the "Sabrina
Slept Here" publicity
stunt had been targeted at several Stately Homes, and Sabrina duly slept
in Thoresby Hall on the night of 28th March 1957, the cause of much bawdy
humour among male workers across the estate. It had been the Major's plan
to have Sabrina dress as Maid Marian the following day and serve the first
guests with venison. http://thoresby.blogspot.com/
18 April 1957: Sabrina Special! Weekly Sporting Review.
20 April 1957: Headlines the London West End variety show Pleasures
of Paris with Dickie Henderson and the 'madcap' Three Monarchs (a show she will eventually take to packed houses in
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa). Read a contemporary account before the show's opening.

Sabrina in the playbill for London's 1957 production of Pleasures of Paris at the Prince of Wales Theatre

The Melbourne Pleasures of Paris production programme
9 March 1957 - On TV in New York

"Britain's answer to Jayne Mansfield -- television personality Sabrina -- wore this shimmering, low-cut gown when she appeared on the Steve Allen television show on N.B.C. - TV in New York, March 9*. The Bosomy Blonde Beauty is shown here on-stage after the show, her first American TV appearance. The show was screened in colour."
|
May 1957: 'Span' magazine #33 cover
and article.
1957: What do they see in Sabrina? Adam, Vol 2, Num 1
13 May 1957: Sabrina
tells her secret - Pictorial (Australia)
May
1957 - Appears in Art and Photography in a story about Russell
Gay, the Glamour Photographer
19 May - turns 21 |
Cameo appearance
in the movie Just My Luck with Norman Wisdom.

|
18 June 1957 - Sabrina a Sensation at Ascot. Sabrina, the babe with the biggest bust in British show business, was a sensation at the races when she gate-crashed the hallowed royal enclosure at Ascot, England, dressed in this low-necked organdy. The show girl walked into the enclosure without a ticket, departing after 15 minutes as thousands peered, including dukes, viscounts, lords, barons and earls.
Ron reports that English racing authorities raise their eyebrows when
Sabrina wears that outfit to Royal Ascot and she was asked
to leave.

Paul W found the next 2 pix. Thanks,
Paul!




18 June 1957 - British TV's "Dumb Blonde" not so dumb. This vision in organdy with the plunging neckline is Sabrina (Norma Sykes) British television star known the length and breadth of the British Isles as "TV's dumb blonde". Yesterday Sabrina proved the fallacy of the title when she crashed the royal enclosure at Ascot and told a reporter she was just "looking for the powder room". Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal party appeared not to notice the intrusion.
Wish I had this newsreel (itnsource.com - ref: 130-944): Royal Party drive up Course, MC Queen & Prince Philip in carriage, HS Crowds, CU Men in high hats, MC Sabrina, TV Star, Med Royal Party (Philip putting glasses on), Med Princess Margaret, MS Queen looking through field glasses, A shots Start of race & race, MC Bonhomie on outside moving up & takes lead, Queen & Queen Mother looking on (Queen's Reactions), MC Winner Bonhomie.
|
June 1957 - Sabrina, Beautiful
Britons #20
August 1957 - I was born. My mother reports that Sabrina was in
no way involved. Dammit!
September
1957 - LEND-LEASE NUDE - Sir! Sep
1957
October 1957: Sabrina Surprised,
Male Point of View magazine.
5 October 1957: I
haven't a real friend in the world - TV Mirror.
October
1957: '66' Star Feature on
Sabrina
October
1957: A Day In the
Life of Sabrina - Photoplay
When
Sabrina lost her Dress in the Street - Exposed, Oct 1957
10 October 1957 - Prince of Wales Theatre - the Miss World girls get the opportunity to meet the cast of the new show 'Pleasures of Paris'. "Even Sabrina casts an admiring eye over the competitors -and with her statistics, she can afford to be critical."
November 1957: Sabrina
Today - Span
9 November 1957: FILM BALL AT LONDON'S FESTIVAL HALL (Pathe Ref: T09115702) : Scenes include: Sabrina and Barry Sullivan drinking coffee.
Thinks: I wonder how many other biographical pages record the day on which their subject drank coffee over 50 years before...
Even more worrying, I know what time it happened: 5.40pm. Shudder. I really ought to get another hobby.
However, one thing does remain a mystery: did she have the coffee black or white, and with or without sugar?
Maybe we'll NEVER KNOW. Or maybe one day I'll ruin it by finding out. Dammit.
28
December 1957: The
Amazing Sabrina Survival - Picturegoer
1957-1958: Appeared in Living It Up (Associated-Rediffusion/Jack
Hylton) a sitcom of 9 x 30 minute episodes
in black and white. The TV
version
of popular radio series Band Waggon with Arthur Askey and Richard
Murdoch living
in a flat on top of Associated Rediffusion's
broadcasting house. Also featured were Anthea Askey, Danny Ross, Hugh
Morton, and Bill Mercy. (Source)
Appears
at the opening of the Granada in Brixton (see
the newsreel)
Sometime around the end of 1957 or start of 1958, Sabrina went to Paris with
Billy Smart, circus playboy and leopard-giver. (I've just realised that
in my whole life, this is the first time I've ever typed the words, "Leopard-giver". Hmmm.) |
1958
|
January 1958: Why
Sabrina Stopped Playing with the Playboys, feature article in UNCENSORED [U.S.A.]
Pet leopard for Sabrina 23 Feb 1958
Actress Sabrina is pictured with her pet leopard called Chico at
Billy Smart's Circus winter quarters at Winkfield, Berkshire.
Bill,
junior, a genial, stockily built 24-year-old, who recently went to Paris
with her, gave her the leopard.

It seems the January decision to 'stop playing with the
playboys' was premature! |

|
|
You'll
be fitter if you're fatter - Australasian Post, 27 Feb 58. |
13 March 1958 - Arrives in Hollwood


Thanks to our Guy From The Netherlands for this VIP quality pic and the informative caption:
LOS ANGELES 13 March 1958... Fabulous 41.5-18-36 SABRINA, the TV rage of England, arrived in Los Angeles from New York City for a four-day visit in Hollywood. She has been linked romantically with actor STEVE COCHRAN.
|
9 April 1958 - Sabrina is named as the adultress in divorce plea involving Paul Carpenter. (Sabrina denied it was true) |
19 May - turns 22
22
May 1958: Sabrina appears in a British Pathé newsreel featuring
British stars cavorting with fans at a Battersea Park Variety Club Garden
Party in London. Visit British
Pathé to see it.
The release of the hit comedy movie, Blue
Murder at St. Trinian's
|
19
March 1958 - Sabrina: made
to measure - Crowd (Oz)
May
1958: Sabrina Slays
the Yanks. '66' magazine
|
3 July 1958 - Carnival Queen at the Carnival at Bexhill and Eastbourne
(Film Clip BGU503040563) - a Carnival with Parade of tableaux.
|
17 August 1958: Appeared on 'The Frankie Howerd Show' on ITV along with
Margaret Rutherford and Michael Denison at 8.30pm. |
September
1958: My Night Out with
Sabrina - Photoplay
October
1958 - Escapade
Interviews Sabrina - Escapade (U.S. visit).
October
1958 - Sabrina the Great - Pose, October 1958.
November
1958: Britain's
answer to Jayne Mansfield. Hi-Life magazine.
|
Around October 1958: Short visit to America to do TV


HOLLYWOOD EYE-FUL is presented by British actress Sabrina, a visitor at MGM this week with Steve Cochran, right, and producer Albert Zugsmith during filming of 'THE BEAT GENERATION'. Presented with a gold key to the studio, the generously endowed English lass is enroute to Australia with her own revue, then is being beckoned by Zugsmith to return to Hollywood for a co-starring film with Cochran.
|

"Actress Sabrina posed like this at London Airport today, November 12 [1958], before flying out to Rome. She will spend ten days there before flying onto Australia where she is to make theatrical appearances."
|
18 November 1958 - In Rome
En route to Australia, she visits Rome - where an Italian handled Sabrina's
bust.
What did she do there? THIS!


And THIS!

Rome: British actress Sabrina whose physical attributes are enough to turn viewers' heads tries her skill at turning a hula hoop here November 18, 1958. She was here on vacation.
See more Rome photos. |
24 November 1958

24/11/58 - HOLLYWOOD: Britain's buxom actress, Sabrina, poses in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre while actor Steve Cochran (foreground, back to camera) takes her picture. Sabrina, who at one time was billed as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe, is en route to Australia where she will appear in her own follies show. She stopped off here to see Cochran, an old friend.
|
Probably 27 Nov 1958 [source unknown]
SABRINA ON WAY AT LAST
Mrs Sykes
FOUND — One blonde TV bombshell named Sabrina. with a 41½ - 18
- 35 figure.
Bosomy Sabrina, who mystified everyone by disappearing in Rome last week,
will arrive in Sydney tomorrow by Pan American.
The fabulous British blonde was due in Sydney originally last Thursday,
but nothing was heard of her after she stepped off her aircraft in Rome.
However, everything is smoothed out now and Sabrina will hit Sydney at 10.25
am. She is booked to appear soon at the Tivoli in Melbourne and Sydney.
Happiest person about the news of her arrival is Sabrina's mother, Mrs.
Ann Sykes, who reached Sydney by BOAC early today.
Mrs. Sykes was bitterly disappointed when she discovered that Sabrina was
not here in advance to meet her.
But she was sure the glamorous Sabrina would turn up. |
28 November, 1958 (front page of Daily Mirror, Sydney)
STARES ALL THE WAY
Sabrina — the world's most famous bosom — flew into Sydney and
laughed at reports that she had been "lost."
"What, me get lost? Don't be silly," she said with a glance at her
famous statistic.
[Sabrina's mother, Mrs. Sykes, arrived in Sydney on Wednesday— the
day her famous daughter was due. She said she didn't know where Sabrina was.]
As she stepped from the Pan-American air- liner, hundreds of goggle-eyed
men pushed and jostled each other to get a glimpse of the 41-18-36 blond.
Photographers and newsreel and TV camera men struggled to get the best vantage
point.
The voluptuous actress stopped all work at the airport. Workmen downed-tools
and stood on trucks, heavy equipment and fences to see her.
"Gosh it's hot," she said.

|
28 November 1958 - Arrives in Australia to do Pleasures of Paris and stays until 15 November 1959.
Extremely popular down under. Your editor's mother assures me Sabrina
and Arthur
performed in Melbourne [but I'm not so sure Arthur made it here].
While in Australia, she went fishing with Bob and Dolly Dyer (quiz show
stars) and Graham Kennedy, Australian TV icon. Pictures
of Sabrina in Australia.
She performed in Sydney on the Stan Freburg Show on Channel ATN7.
MANY MORE DETAILS can be found
in this account of Sabrina's 1958 visit to Melbourne and Sydney |
She also made a TV ad
for Caltex.

She was delighted to see Slim Dusty's greatest-hits and
vice versa

It was a vintage year as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr also toured
in 1959. No entertainer got more publicity or bigger crowds than Sabrina
until The Beatles toured in 1964.
And she had a picnic at Healesville Sanctuary.

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Sabrina talks
about her Australian stay - and Sinatra - in her life story.

Under this picture, the ever-reputable Picture Scope suggested
in September 1958 that Sabrina "has what it takes to play
Daisy Mae in the London version of "L'il Abner". Can anyone
confirm that Sabrina did play the role, or was 'Picture Scope' making
fun of her clothes? |
1959
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6
January 1959 :
AUSTRALIA: "MAGGA DAN" LEAVES FOR ANTARCTIC. Visnews filmed the
polar ship "Magga Dan", leaving Melbourne for the Antarctic. Among the equipment
they carried was an amphibious "duck" named
after Doctor Sabrina, who was visiting Melbourne, and was present at the
ship's departure. (Sadly, film not held by the Sabrinastuff site)
15 January 1959 - SABRINA-ELLIOTT CRICKET
Two well-known personalities - one British and the other Australian - spent the lunch-hour together in MELBOURNE today practising for a charity performance to be held on Sunday for the Red Cross Society. Champion miler HERB ELLIOTT....and his eye-watching time-keeper SABRINA. They'll both take part in Sunday's International Charity cricket match at St. Kilda Oval.
While ELLIOTT did some routine lunch-hour training at Como Park today, most eyes were on SABRINA, dressed for the occasion in matador pants and white sweater.

Sunday's cricket teams will be led by former Test captains - Sir LEONARD HUTTON
and IAN JOHNSTON. But for the onlookers the best was yet to come. SABRINA had
gone to the Park to do some quiet bowling. She's to bowl the first ball at
Sunday's cricket match. and it was obvious today that she badly needed a lot
of practice. Coached by an obliging Army cricket team, SABRINA finally bowled
one ball which connected with the bat; and she became so enthusiastic about
cricket that she stayed for more than an hour. (Source: ABC, Duration: 91.5 feet, Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

24 January 1959: FILM OF SABRINA ON A SHEEP STATION.
At weekend of January 25, Sabrina visited the one-thousand acre property of
Mr. Terry Fogarty at Toolern Vale, thirty miles north-west of Melbourne. Mr.
Fogarty is shown in our film lifting Sabrina on to a horse. Mr. Fogarty,
who owns seventeen thousand sheep, is prominent in wool production and last
year took a wool fashion show to London. The two dresses worn by Sabrina are
made from wool from Mr. Fogarty's sheep. The dark dress is a four ounce lightweight
printed wool, cool in summer, warm in winter. The other is jersey - a finely
woven wool. Both dresses are washable, crease-resistant, mothproof and stain
resistant. The temperature while Sabrina was at the property was 122
degrees . The shearer in the shearing sequence is Eric Rogers, a Victorian
champion shearer. (From http://www.itnarchive.com - sadly, I don't have
the film. Naturally, if anyone happens to have a copy of
this film, please let me know!)
28 February 1959 - Sabrina visits boys with polio at the
Margaret Reid Hospital, Mona Vale Road, St.Ives, N.S.W.

1 March 1959 - Goes fishing with quiz game king, Bob Dyer.

1959:
Release of the film, Make
Mine a Million with Arthur Askey
April 1959 - The
Glamorous Headline
Hunters, Modern Man
9 May 1959: The Making of
the Caltex ad and the Ardath Hit Parade - Pix magazine [Australia]
1959 - Appears in the Tivoli Sydney production of Pleasures of Paris.
Read the programme.
19 May - turns 23
June 1959: A
Sabrina Exclusive for Photo Digest
September
1959: Sabrina's Got What it
Takes - Sir! Sep 1959
September 15, 1959. Brisbane, QLD. Movie actress Sabrina with a kangaroo in Queens St.
See many more pix of Sabby in Oz.

Queen
Sabrina - Modern Man Yearbook 1959

Sabrina leaves for America

Sabrina and manager Ray Bolwell at Mascot leaving for USA,
19 Nov 59
November 1959: Arrives in the United
States
(again) where she stays doing mostly nightclub work in Manhattan's Latin
Quarter until March 1963 with side trips to Canada,
Cuba, and Venezuela.

Sabrina gets off the plane in New York..
If nothing
else, this site is thorough.
Venezuelan Sabrina Fans please report your Sabrina
memories here!

1959
Ebay description: The back says: Worlds Largest Midway Royal American shows. Carl Sedlmayr president, C.J. Sedlmayr, JR then there is a list of 19 places and the dates and the state fairs and or exposition... inside is Leon Miller and Royal American Beauties... picture of just about a nude Rici Covette 6 feet 8 inches.. pictures of the beauties.. a skit picture .. a picture of Sabrina the Toast of the Gold Coast..
24 November 1959 - In Hollywood with Steve Cochran.
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Early 1960s -- Roger reports that Sabrina was the "hostess
with the mostest" on Hughie Green's "Double Your Money"
program. (This needs confirmation). Hughie did crack a joke about her, however, on Opportunity Knocks (MP3). Can anyone help date this?

Click to enlarge
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1960
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January 1960: Sabrina
takes a swim - '66' magazine
1960 - Exclusive...
Sabrina - Mr
Cool
Controversial visit to Cuba where she 'consorts'
with its new revolutionary leader, Fidel
Castro. In her interview with me [MP3] she discloses that she only met him once. But he gave her some green chickens [MP3]!
Her cabaret show went on to tour in over thirty states. "The people
here respect me as a performer," she declared. "I'm not just
known as, you know - a bosom."
9 February 1960 - soon to appear at the Singapore Hotel, Florida USA

9 Feb 1960 - Miami Beach FLORIDA: British song-stylist, Sabrina, who will open at the Singapore Hotel here 17 Feb, is soaking up some of the Florida sunshine on the beach.
February
1960 - Come and Make
Love to Me - Foto-Rama
27 April 1960


The caption reads:
NEW YORK, April 27, 1960
-- IT'S APRIL IN PARIS IN NEW YORK -- British actress and television performer Sabrina wore this outfit, one of the more striking gowns at the party, for last night's gala April in Paris ball at a midtown New York hotel.
19 May - turns 24

Labelled "13 May 1960 - On Set"
May 23, 1960


"May 23 1960. NEW YORK: Buxom British Belle SABRINA pours
champagne glass as she celebrates her 23rd birthday [sic - read about the birthday debate] at Gotham Hotel
here May 21st. Sabrina recently returned from year-long tour of Australia
and the Far East."
April
1960 - Quick magazine has
a lengthy article about "Sabrinia"!
1 June 1960 - Sabrina goes to 'The Forum', a themed New York restaurant

Photo #: 889077 Photographer: Yale Joel.
Date Taken: June 1960. City: NEW YORK
Caption: British actress Sabrina at 'The Forum,' restaurant with 'gladiators'.
Found at TimePix (free registration
required)
Also see gladiators2 on picture page 34 (shown below)

23 June 1960: MY
LIFE STORY, by Sabrina. Australasian Post
23
June 1960: 'Sabrina
has been offered a new job - as a model for a bronze mermaid which is to
be placed with another on a rock at Australia's Bondi Beach.' Read
more

Potential Mermaid: 1960
24 June 1960. Sabrina attends the premiere of the biblical film 'The Story of Ruth' in New York.
August 1960: 'Pose' magazine
August 1960: Sabrina
is antibikini! Ace,
Aug 1960
October 1960 - 'Argosy' magazine (USA)
25 November 1960

(Thanks to Sir H)
25 November 1960 - New York - wearing an abbreviated velvet and gold
lame costume, British actress Sabrina reigns as Queen of the annual Artists
and Models ball here. In the background is actor Dick
Van Dyke, who was king.
December
1960 - Cover of 'Top Secret'
magazine (USA)

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1961
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March 1: Sabrina hits
America - People
April: Sabrina's
screen test for
'Satan in High Heels' - Scene For Men.
May: Sabrina and Castro
- On the QT Magazine
19 May - turns 25
"I've just made a picture in Hollywood. It's called 'Satan In Heels' [sic] and
it's an American version of 'La Dolce Vita' and it's very good." - Sabrina, 1962
Sabrina films 'Satan in High Heels' (which premieres in New York in March 1962). It failed commercially, but
has since become a cult film.

Click to enlarge
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1962
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Read the newspaper
articles that chronicle the sad times during Sabrina's her return trip to Australia to promote the Twist dance craze and do nightclub engagements. |
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4 January 1962 - arrives at Mascot airport, Sydney and demonstrates The Twist.


8 January 1962
At 11.06 precisely on Friday night Sabrina was Twisting with verve
and elan at LEE GORDON'S establishment when her dress gave a
screech of despair, and split (down the back) from stem to stern. A
series of hurried dashes into a coat, into a taxi, into her hotel,
and into another dress had her back Twisting within the half-hour. (Telegraph)
Her
return to Australia to promote the Twist for Lee Gordon rapidly turned
sour.
23 January 1962
(Sun)
"I hate the twist... There, at last I've said it."
"I agreed to go on with shows only in order
to keep faith with the public. But I hated every minute of it."
Sabrina said she planned to sue Gordon.
On 24 Jan 1962 she went public with her complaints against Gordon. Read the newspaper articles.

24 January 1962 (Telegraph)
Sabrina is in a state of dispute with entrepreneur LEE GORDON (who's
in the U.S.)
"Here I am, without a manager or anything to protect me - all I
have is a written contract"
It says, in part: "In consideration of the sum of 1000 Australian
pounds plus a £30-a-day penthouse at the Chevron Hilton hotel plus
an air ticket from L.A. to Sydney to L.A. to London, I agree to arrive
in Sydney, Australia, before January 1, 1962, to promote through publicity
the theatrical ventures of Lee Gordon..."
Said Sabrina: "I've had nightclub offers to stay here. They've
even offered to bring out the man I aim to marry [Sonny King].
4 February 1962 (Sunday Telegraph - Sydney)
“I will marry Sonny” – Sabrina
“I won’t marry her” – Sonny King
“Of course he will” - Manager
SABRINA: WILL SHE OR WON’T SHE WED?

“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT” Sabrina claims that she would marry American
comedian-singer Sonny King in Las Vegas within a week. King sends a telegram to the press denying it. When shown the telegram, Sabrina says, "That's not what Sonny has been saying to me.He's been asking me to marry him for the past six months.In fact, he's waiting for me in Las Vegas right now—he expected
me back today."
Peter Freeman, one of Lee Gordon's managers who accompanied Sabrina from
Melbourne, said: "I saw the cable from King asking Sabrina to return to the United
States this weekend and saying. 'Divorce settlement finalised Let's get
married. "I think Sabrina sort of let the cat out of the bag with
her announcement on Friday night, and that, embarrassed Sonny a little
because he is still arranging a marriage settlement after his divorce
has gone through."
18 February 1962 - Sunday Telegraph (Sydney)
'I’m
through with Sonny'
Interviewed at her Sydney hotel, Sabrina said there was “no
love nothing” in her life.
Sabrina produced a cablegram from Sonny. It read: "Engagement
confirmed; come home immediately. Sonny."
Sabrina is pictured with the cablegram she received from Sonny.

8 April 1962 (Telegraph) - Sabrina leaves Australia - for the last time.
Bosomy blonde showgirl Sabrina stormed out of Sydney yesterday declaring
that she "never wants to see Australia again." Sabrina
left for San Francisco angry and broke.
"The plane ticket cost me my last cent," she said. I've
been out of work in Sydney for almost two months."
(It's unclear if she then went to Las Vegas or San Francisco, but she appeared in both places with a burlesque show)
1962 - Was in Las Vegas (Nevada) appearing in a Follies Bergere
show. See the other 1962 Sabrina beehive shots. <Shudder>

Sometime in 1962 - Sabrina ("The Toast of Gold Street") appears
in the President Follies Burlesque in San Francisco (CA), which was torn down the following year. We doubt that Sabrina was implicated in the coincidence.
('The Toast of Gold Street' is an odd appellation for our Sabby. Gold Street in San Fran is a one-way lane that even "Google Street View Maps refuses to enter. The mystery remains: what Sabrinastuff lurks in Gold Street? - Ed.)

Full size - sorry!
27 January 1962: Sabrina's
Secret Diet - Pix (Australia)
19 May - turns 26

November 1962
29 November 1962 - interviewed in
Caracas, capital
of Venezuela. Planning to return to Britain after a season in Johannesburg, South
Africa.
1962: In Praise
of Bosoms, Spree
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1963
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17 March 1963

The caption reads:
"Sabrina, away from England for 4 years, shows she has lost none of her charm. She is pictured at her London Hotel soon after flying in from Los Angeles to appear next Sunday with comedian Arthur Askey in a TV show at the London Palledium (sic). It was with Arthur Askey that Sabrina became famous - without saying a word. She just walked on stage in his TV Show. Her figure spoke for her."
Thanks to 'The Guy From the Netherlands' for the pic!
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March 1963 -- Returns to Britain
to star in Sunday night at the Palladium with Arthur Askey
on national TV.

Sabrina's Secret Diet On the QT, May 1963 - see it side-by-side with the Australian article in Pix that appeared in 1962! (A Sir H contribution)
19 May - turns 27
September 1963: The Day Sabrina Blew Her
Top - Confidential
4
September 1963 - It's
Too Hot for England! - Everybody's - the British censors
ban Satan in High Heels!
October-November 1963: Tours South Africa
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Come on, you Seth Efrican Sabrina Fans!
Does anyone remember Sabrina's tour?
Please let me know! |

This rhino remembers Sabrina! Do you?
Her 4 year absence in Britain appears to have diminished
her following but shes still scoring plenty of publicity and work
(such as This Is Your Life)
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1964
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Sabby was crowned Queen of the World Trade Fair in New York.

24 April 1964 - Returns briefly to London after entertaining the troops in Cyprus. Soon due to fly out to USA to 'appear in a play'.

"LONDON: If we could wolf-whistle we would. Lovely SABRINA poses here today in her Easter bonnet, which she knocked together for the trifling sum of 25 shillings. Sabrina returned to this country last Friday from Cyprus where she had been entertaining the troops. While she was out in the island she caught influenza and was confined to her bed in the Turkish quarter where she had a guard of two British soldiers.
When she came to look for an Easter bonnet in London, Sabrina found the styles did not appeal to her, and neither did the prices. So, being an enterprising young thing, she set about making a hat for herself. The result was this white silk affair covered in black net and rose petals, adorned with a large black rose.
Unfortunately for us, Sabrina will only be in London for a short while before she flies to America to appear in a play. March 28th 1964."
19 May - turns 28
July 1964 - Sabby can still woo the Yanks. Inside Story re-tells the juicy story of Sabrina for Americans.
November 1964: Happy Landings, Spick

Photograph taken at Cleveland Park Middlesbrough
in 1964 at an event when riders competed for The SABRINA Trophy. The
photo shows winner Ivan Mauger, Middlesbrough Promoter at the time and
Sabrina (fashion model)

Middlesbrough riders Dave Younghusband, Eric Boocock Alan Butterfield
and Slant Payling posing at the start of the event with Sabrina, a fashion
model at that time.
December 1964: Returns to the US for
a stint in the touring Pajama Tops, temporarily replacing June
Wilkinson,
another British export better known in the US but completely shutout
in
Britain by Sabrinas popularity.
After Pajama Tops continues to do nightclub and theatre
work, including The Loving Couch, and Rattle of a Simple Man. |
1965
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From Everybody's, 17 Feb 1965
Guess who? It's Sabrina. It's been a long time since anyone heard of her.
She was snapped at London Airport on her way to the U.S. for a three-months'
tour with a play. Sabby showed she has lost none of her flamboyance - that's
a leopard-skin coat she was "spotted" wearing.

January 1965 - Appears in “Pajama Tops” for a 10-day run
at the Civic Theatre (and/or American Theatre) in New Orleans. The cast included
Sabrina, Richard Vath, William Browder, Maralyn Turner. Don McArt, Sandra Gayle
and Robert Osborne.
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Information from an eBay ad for Pajama Tops tickets

Pajama Tops
"The most hilarious adult comedy in years" - Mirror
American Theatre 9th & St. Charles - St. Louis
Good all performances
On stage in person - Sabrina
Mon. thru Thurs. Nights at 8:30
2 shows Fri & Sat. nights 7:15 & 9:45 p.m.
One Sunday performance Jan. 17, 8:30 p.m.
Buy now while seats last
Friday Jan. 15 thru Saturday Jan. 30
No exchanges or refunds
Special discount ticket save 1/2
Regular price $5.90 you pay $2.95 / 4.90 - 2.45 / 3.90 - 1.95 / 2.90
- 1.45
Exchange this ticket for (1) or (2) res. Seats |
Read all about Sabrina onstage: Pajama Tops, Loving Couch, and Rattle of a Simple Man- Sabrina's life in plays in America, 1965-1966. Straight from Sabrina's own scrapbook!
Appears in movie The House of the
Black Death
Spring: Spick
and Span magazine, Extra #14 - the last magazine appearance until 1971.
19 May - turns 29
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1966
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19 May - turns 30
Onstage in The Loving Couch, co-starring with Virginia Mayo 1966
in Toronto and other cities

Sabrina by the pool, 6 August 1966 in Toronto, aged 30
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1967
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Sabby with Troy Donahue in 1967, heading for Mexico for the filming of The Phantom Gunslinger.

Sabrina on her way to Mexico, 1967, to film The Phantom Gunslinger
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19 May - turns 31
Onstage in Rattle of a Simple Man, August 1966-7, Ivar Theatre,
Los Angeles;
Appears in The Phantom Gunslinger (Mexico,
1967)
Appears in a double episode
of Tarzan with Ron Ely and Ethel Merman
November 21, 1967, aged 31, marries Dr
Harold Melsheimer, a wealthy Hollywood plastic surgeon (or gynaecologist,
depending on who's telling the story), in LA. They settle down in Encino,
CA. Sabrina continues occasional film, television, theatre and nightclub
appearances. She quits showbusiness and eases back into an opulent married
life, complete with a 40ft yacht, sports cars, mink stoles and Hollywood
parties. Her Doberman Pinscher has its own bedroom and bathroom.
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1969
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19 May - turns 33
Release of the movie The Ice
House
(apparently made in 1966 and shelved for 3 years.) |
1971
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Russian
Dressing Man's
Epic, June 1971 - the first magazine appearance since 1965, and probably
the last until 2003. It turns out the "St Peterburg" in the article was in Florida, not the USSR! |
1974
and beyond
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19 May - turns 38
The Last Hurrah: Sabrina visits England
to appear in This Is Your Life for Arthur Askey.
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Around
1977
19 May 1977- turns 41
1977 - Sabrina and Dr Harry's rocky marriage ends in divorce, acrimoniously.
19 December 1984 (according
to the LA Dept of City Planning), Sabby moved to North Hollywood.
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Around
1997
19 May - turns 61
Sabrina has a large tumour removed from her
hip |
2002
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19 May - turns 66
The Mail on Sunday reported
that Sabrina is living a hermit-like existence in "semi-squalour in a grubby Californian suburb
at the intersections of three ten-lane motorways and right underneath
the flightpath of
Los Angeles'
Burbank Airport."

Read Sabrina's rebuttal.
She spends most of her time in a wheelchair. |
2003
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19 May - turns 67
Sunday 20 April, 2003 - Sabrina rings the Sabrina Site's Melbourne
Headquarters and dispels some of the Mail On Sunday's conclusions. Listen
to and read the interview. |
2005
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19 May - turns 69
The Mail On
Sunday apologises for their silly article.

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2006
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19 May - turns sixty-ten (a more genteel way of saying it).
Sabrina breaks her leg. She phones the Sabrinastuff site and sends some
great pictures from her scrapbook.
2006 or early 2007 - Sabrina and Steve Page were
driving down Sunset Boulevard when a tree fell on the car, crushing the
front of it. She put another disk out in her back. |
2008
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10 July 2008 - Sabrina sends her first scrapbook covering her theatrical days onstage in 1965-1966, doing
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Sabrina's
homepage | Pictures
| Sabrina films 
|
Thanks
to 'Sir H' and Lea & Beryl Ellis (nee Beryl Coburn) for some of
this information.
Beryl Ellis, the mother of Lea Ellis, who sent information about Norma
Ann as a girl, was a friend of the family of Norma Ann Sykes, and often
walked to the park with Norma in her pram from an early age up until around
the age of two.
'Sir
H' wrote: "Congratulations on a truly magnificent site, its
informative, funny, comprehensive, a deserved tribute to the phenomenon
that was Sabrina and the drop dead gorgeous pics are a great reminder
of why she was so popular. Ive put together the following timeline
of highlights of her career... (biography) Finally, Ive a
small archive of photos, clippings, magazines which you dont appear
to have and which I can ship to you if you want." And he did:
leading to the 'Sir H' collection.
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