Dame Vera Lynn

England's sweetheart during the trying times of World War II, Vera Lynn was born in London one year before the close of the first World War. She began singing at the age of seven, working in dance bands as well during her teenage years. Lynn appeared on radio broadcasts with the Joe Loss Orchestra as early as 1935, and sang with Charlie Kunz and Ambrose. After first performing solo in 1940, she became the host of the BBC radio program Sincerely Yours; the show became incredibly popular with overseas servicemen who missed their girlfriends, and her regular songs included such hopeful/heartsick ballads as "White Cliffs of Dover," "We'll Meet Again," "Wishing" and "Yours." Lynn also made several films during the war years, appeared in a stage revue and sang for troops in Asia before retiring at the close of the war.Her retirement was hardly two years old when Vera Lynn returned to the spotlight in 1947, touring the variety circuit and gaining another BBC radio program. Her recording label, Decca, seized a golden opportunity in 1948 by releasing Vera Lynn material in America during a musicians strike that had crippled the stateside music industry, and Lynn gained a Top Ten hit that year with "You Can't Be True, Dear." In 1952, she became the first British artist to hit number one on the American charts when "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" spent nine weeks at the top spot.Her first (and only) British number one came two years later, with "My Son My Son," and she gradually moved from radio/variety work to television spots during the '50s in order to round out her schedule, recording increasingly contemporary material during the 1960s and '70s. In 1976, Vera Lynn added the title Dame of the British Empire to her credit list, and though she performed sparingly during the 1980s, she did appear at commemorations for the 40th anniversary of D-Day and the 50th anniversary of the beginning of World War II.