Lita Roza was born Lilian Patricia Lita Roza on March 14, 1926 in Liverpool to Elizabeth Anne and Francis Vincent Roza, a Spanish marine engineer and part-time pianist at a local nightclub. The eldest of seven children, she auditioned as a dancer at the age of 12 in a pantomime to help support the family, eventually working up to performing with the comedian Ted Ray and actress Noel Gordon in the show Black Velvet. Because life was becoming too dangerous in London during the blitz of 1940, her family wanted her back in Liverpool. She turned to singing on her return and managed...