Inside the tragic life of a TV talent show starlet who left home at age 10 and never returned

According to her cousin, TRAGIC singer Lena Zavaroni could have become a big international star like Celine Dion if she hadn’t suffered from anorexia.

The diminutive entertainer from the Isle of Bute shot to fame 50 years ago when she won over TV talent show Opportunity Knocks is only nine years old.

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Lena then performed in front of the royal family, a US president, met Frank Sinatra and even had her own prime time Saturday night show before the extreme eating disorder ended her life prematurely when she died aged just 35 and weighing less than four stone.

But Lena’s cousin Margaret Zavaroni is adamant that if the singer had lived, she would have been the equal of Canadian superstar Céline, who performed at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics this summer.

Speaking to The Scottish Sun on Sunday, Margaret, 70, said: “Lena had this grown-up singing voice that came from this little person.

“To this day I have never heard anyone sing or perform on stage like Lena. There is no one like her anywhere today.

“The only person who even comes close is Celine Dion. If Lena hadn’t fallen ill, she would still have performed at her best today.”

Lena’s heartbreaking life story is told next Weekend on the BBC Scotland Documentary, Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten child star.

It shows her incredible story from becoming an overnight star to impressing United Kingdom and America with her girlish charm and incredible voice.

She was born on November 4, 1963 and lived with her younger sister Carla and her parents Hilda and Victor above the family’s chippy home on the Isle of Bute, Argyll and Bute.

Knowing they had a special talent, Victor sought advice from Scottish singer/songwriter Tommy Scott, who immediately compared Lena’s talent to Van Morrison.

Tommy says: “This little girl said ‘I’ll sing for you’ and got on stage and I couldn’t believe it. She just came at me like a truck.”

The musician put the Zavaronis in touch with West End impresario Phil Solomon and his agent Dorothy, who had flown in from London to meet the family on the tiny holiday island.

Victor remembers, “Solomon had this contract and I said, ‘Would you mind if I got a lawyer?'” He said, “You don’t need a lawyer,” got up and went to his room.

“But my cousins ​​all said, ‘Are you sure you’re doing the right thing, Victor?’ So I signed it.”

Cousin Margaret remembers how she excitedly waved Lena off at the ferry terminal, not knowing that she was School The girl who wasn’t even in double digits was going to leave her home forever.

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The married Mother-of-one said: “We thought Lena would only be away for a few days.

“The only way me and her sister Carla could see her again was on TV or when we went to her shows.”

But as Lena’s career skyrocketed, she became homesick after being separated from her close-knit family.

Margaret says: “She lived in her mansion in the Solomon Islands park Roadway.

“They had a butler and someone who would open the door. But Lena was so lonely. She had no friends except showbiz friends.”

One of her closest friends was fellow prodigy Bonnie Langford after the two met at the renowned Italia Conti Stage School.

Margaret says: “Lena told me a lot of what they taught me, namely etiquette, how to use the right thing Knife and express themselves and behave in public.

“But that wasn’t Lena, she was a girl who loved being out and about and going to the beach.”

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Back home she had sparked a tourist boom when her debut album Ma! (He’s Making Eyes at Me) reached number eight on the UK album charts.

At 10 years and 146 days, she remains the youngest person to ever have a top 10 album.

Victor remembers: “She was number one Japan, France, Germany, HollandSouth Africa and Business improved on the island – the boats were busier.”

But when she landed her own BBC Saturday Night show, Lena Zavaroni and The Music, aged just 15, her health problems were obvious and her painfully thin appearance worried viewers and BBC staff for excitement.

Three years later, aged 18, Lena suffered a breakdown on stage at the Floral Pavilion in Merseyside.

She was accepted into the Church of All Saints hospitalKennington before returning to Rothesay to rest and recuperate for the first time in five years.

Concerned about her frail condition and refusal to eat, Victor took her to a doctor. After seeing more specialists, Lena was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.

He says: “I had never heard of it. It wasn’t known disease. I always thought if she had a real family life, maybe she would grow out of it.”

But Lena was still determined to pursue her dream of show business, saying, “If I gave up everything, what would that do?” Future Will you hold Rothesay for me?”

LENAS LIFE

THE life and times of Lena Zavaroni:

1963 – Born on November 4, 1963 and lives with children Vincent and Hilda above the Chippy family on the Isle of Bute.

1974 – In 1974, aged just nine, she made her debut on the BBC talent show Opportunity Knocks.

1975 – Their debut album Ma! (He’s Making Eyes at Me) reached number eight on the UK album charts. when she was just 10.

1976 – At 12, she becomes the youngest performer on the Royal Variety Show. That same year, she performed for President Gerald Ford at the White House, appeared on The Johnny Carson Tonight Show, and met Frank Sinatra.

1977 – At the age of 14, he stands at the top of the London Palladium.

1978 – Attends the Italia Conti Academy stage school in London, where she befriends her classmate Bonnie Langford.

1979 – At 15, she lands her own BBC Saturday Night show called Lena Zavaroni and The Music.

1982 – Aged 18, she collapses on stage at the Floral Pavilion in Merseyside. She is taken to All Saints Hospital in Kenningston.

1985 – Attempts a show business comeback with an appearance on the Terry Wogan chat show.

1987 – Weds computer consultant Peter Wiltshire. Their marriage lasts 18 months.

1989 – Her mother Hilda dies at the age of 47 from an overdose of sedatives.

1993 – First appearance in six years at home on the Isle of Bute.

1995 – Moves into a council flat in Hoddesdon, Herts, where she lives on benefits.

1999 – Undergoes groundbreaking surgery in Cardiff to cure her depression and anorexia. She died of pneumonia on October 1st at the age of 35 and weighing only four kilos.

However, her personal life suffered further setbacks after her Wedding to the computer consultant Peter Wiltshire failed before her in 1987 after 18 months mama Hilda died of one Overdose of tranquilizers at age 47 in 1989.

Lena was now too ill to perform and ultimately continued to live Advantages in a council flat in Hoddesdon, Herts, living on the “charity” of friends to make ends meet.

So what happened to all of this? Money made from record Sales and TV shows in the seventies?

Margaret says: “I think my Uncle Victor would Love knowing that too.”
In 1999, Lena decided to undergo a groundbreaking leucotomy – the cutting of the nerves in the frontal lobes of the brain university Hospital of Wales in Cardiff in a desperate attempt to cure her eating disorder and depression.

But weeks later, after telling doctors and her family she was feeling better, she died of pneumonia on October 1, aged 35 and weighing just four kilos.

Victor says: “I really think she has started eating again. But when you look back on it all, you realize that it was disaster.”

But Bonnie Langford, 60, believes her friend – who had a lifelong love of butterflies – was finally freed from her demons before being buried at Hoddesdon Cemetery.

She remembers: “As they carried her coffin down the aisle, a black butterfly flew away. I said, “That’s Lena.” There she is. She’s gone. She is free’.”

Margaret adds: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But Lena would have been unhappy if she had been prevented from pursuing them Dreams.

“It was all like that Waste But she really belonged on stage.”

• Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten Child Star screens on BBC Scotland on Sunday October 6 at 9pm.

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