The Difficult Life of Dorothy Squires
Dorothy Squires at the peak of her fame.
Success and Sadness
Not willing to settle for the life of drudgery that was mapped out for her, Dorothy Squires was determined to pursue a career as a singer.
Against all odds, she was successful but her stardom was overshadowed by her sad personal life.
Who Was Dorothy Squires?
Born into a poor family in a Welsh mining village, Edna May's life was destined to follow a preordained pattern—laboring in a tinplate factory, marriage before the age of 20, children, and what she viewed as the hum-drum existence of cleaning, cooking, and child rearing.
Edna May wanted none of that. She wanted what she became, a famous singer called Dorothy Squires, and she had the voice and uncompromising determination to make that happen.
Against family wishes, she started performing at the age of 14. She would sneak out of her home, change in a telephone box, and sing with a local band in working men's clubs. She wanted more and moved to London in the early 1930s.
Meeting Billy Reid
Stories of her life gloss over her early days in the British capital, but soon, we find her signed up with a talent agent called Joe Kay. The BBC tells us that “Her first cabaret gig though was a disaster as she got stage fright and forgot her lines.”
That hiccup didn't send her back to the Welsh valleys and soon she was performing with the American pianist Charlie Kunz and his band at the Casini Club.
Some of the shows were broadcast on the radio and heard by bandleader Billy Reid. He liked what he heard and invited Squires to front his accordion band.
So began a long professional and personal relationship between Reid and Squires. For 16 years, the couple were an international success, with numerous hit recordings on both sides of the Atlantic.
With the fame, came money and that meant a mansion in England and an upscale apartment in Beverly Hills. There was one trifling snag—Billy Reid was married and, in 1951, he decided to return to his wife.
Roger Moore in 1959 on the set of "The Alaskans." The television program starred Moore during the last years of his marriage to Dorothy Squires.
Warner Brothers Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons/Photoscape
Mrs. Roger Moore
Within a year, she met an impossibly handsome young actor who was 12 years younger than her.
Fellow entertainer and friend Johnny Tudor wrote that Squires was so infatuated with Roger Moore “that she neglected her own career to promote his. She took him to America and began an uphill struggle to establish him on the international film scene.”
Moore and Squires married in New York in 1953 and it's said that Dorothy was close to broke having spent all her money in advancing her husband's career. But, Moore had a wandering eye that settled on the Italian actress Luisa Mattioli.
When Squires found out about her husband's philandering, in 1961, she went to Moore's house and tossed a brick through his window. She reached in and tried to grab Moore and cut herself in the process.
“It's my heart that's bleeding”
The police arrived, and an officer said, “Madam, your hand is bleeding.” Her reply, “It's my heart that's bleeding,” became the title of a biography by Johnny Tudor.
Once again, abandoned by her lover, Dorothy Squires set about resurrecting her career, but the experts said her style of music was no longer in vogue. Undaunted, she hired the 2,500-seat London Palladium, sold out the huge theatre, and proved the critics wrong.
Almost 40 years after her career began she was back on top. She repeated the success in some of America's prime venues, but misfortune was waiting to strike once again.
Addiction to Amphetamines
In the early 1970s, she became addicted to amphetamines and started launching law suits. In 30 court cases, she sued everyone she believed had wronged her, including Roger Moore.
The case against her former husband was for the restoration of conjugal rights. The judge found in her favour with the caveat that it was beyond him how the court ruling was to be enforced.
In 1973, she found herself on the wrong end of a nasty lawsuit that involved bribing disc jockeys to play records. A co-accused was singer Janie Jones who was charged with procuring prostitutes for the pleasure of radio producers.
Squires was acquitted but Janie Jones and others were not. Although innocent, her association with such a tawdry story did her great harm. She hit back and scored a judgment against Rupert Murdoch's scandal rag, The News of the World, which had accused her of being part of the payola scheme.
A Vexatious Litigant
Apparently, the amphetamine addiction was getting worse and causing her to be so paranoid that she saw enemies wherever she looked. The result was so many frivolous lawsuits that the court system declared her a "vexatious litigant."
This made it very difficult for her to hire a lawyer to pursue a claim and to require approval from a judge before launching a suit. The legal fees left her bankrupt.
Dorothy Squires was banned from Britain's High Court (above).
A Sad Ending to a Glittering Life
In 1974, Squires' beloved mansion, site of many showbiz parties, was destroyed in a fire. She moved into a smaller home but was evicted for failing to pay the mortgage. She broke into the house and spent a lonely Christmas there with only candles to provide light and heat as the electricity had been cut off.
Removed from the property a second time, she was essentially homeless and penniless. A fan learned of her plight and allowed her to live rent free in a house back in Wales.
She became reclusive and died of cancer in 1998 at the age of 83.
Bonus Factoids
- In 2013, a commemorative plaque was placed on a building in Llanelli, Wales, where Dorothy Squires (Edna May) had lived with her parents. The plaque was paid for by Roger Moore.
- A play entitled Dorothy Squires: Mrs. Roger Moore was premiered in 2012. The following year, Dorothy Squires' long-time friend Johnny Tudor co-authored a play about her life called Say It with Flowers.
- On the comeback trail, Dorothy Squires commits a fashion malfunction as she sings Say it With Flowers to the thunderous piano accompaniment of Russ Conway (below).
Sources
- “Dorothy Squires.” BBC Wales, August 28, 2009.
- “Dorothy Squires: The Llanelli Singer Who Married Roger Moore.” Neil Prior, BBC News, April 14, 2018.
- “Who Was Dorothy Squires?” Johnny Tudor, theartsdesk.com, May 6, 2013.
- “Record-Plugging Scandals Hit British Broadcasting.” Associated Press, May 18, 1973.
- "My Heart Is Bleeding: The Life of Dorothy Squires." Johnny Tudor, The History Press, 2017.
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This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2023 Rupert Taylor
