Evelyn Dove

Black History Month 

Evelyn Dove

Quick Fact File:

Born: 11th January 1902

Died: 7th March 1987

Occupation: Singer, Actress

Evelyn Dove’s reputation increasingly grew in Britain through working with the BBC in the 1940s and through performing internationally with places including France, Germany, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, United States, India and Spain.

Education and Early Career:

Dove studied piano, voice and elocution whilst at the Royal Academy of Music. Upon graduating, Dove realised that the Classical music scene wasn’t inviting to a female singer of mixed race. 

Dove continued to show her motivation and determination for success who practiced Cabaret and Jazz shows in London as a member of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra. Her break into the music scene came in the black jazz revue chocolate Kiddies.

Working with the BBC:

She became most successful in 1939 as she joined folk singer Edric Connor on BBC Radio’s Serenade in Sepia. This series lasted a decade before becoming a TV show. As a result, Dove appeared as a singer on other radio programmes such as Caribbean Carnival, Mississippi Nights and Calling the West Indies.

Throughout World War II, Dove had the same appeal as Vera Lynn. She was employed by the BBC throughout the war and was one of the radio’s most popular singers.  

After the BBC:

Dove left the BBC in 1949 to work in Cabaret in India, Paris and Spain. Upon returning to Britain, she struggled to find work. As a result, she had to apply for a job as a Post Office telephonist. The BBC did go on to cast her as Eartha Kitt’s mother in a television drama Mrs Patterson and more television work followed. 

Dove eventually died of pneumonia in Surrey at the age of 85.

Legacy:

Evelyn Dove’s reputation has grown both during her life and after her death as an influential figure for Black people in music. Moira Stuart featured her in Salutations, a series that celebrated black British and British-based musical entertainers. Her biography was written by Stephen Bourne entitled “Evelyn Dove: Britain’s Black Cabaret Queen” and her life was celebrated by google on 11th January 2019 in one of their first “doodles” of the year”, coinciding with Dove’s 117th birthday.