Anne Ziegler

Anne Ziegler (born Irené Frances Eastwood; 22 June 1910 – 13 October 2003) was an English singer, known for her light operatic duets with her husband Webster Booth. The pair were known as the "Sweethearts in Song" and were among the most famous and popular British musical acts of the 1940s.

Life and career Ziegler was born on 22 June 1910, in the Sefton Park area of Liverpool, and attended The Belvedere School. She trained as a classical pianist, and studied singing. In 1933, she began singing professionally as a soprano, changing her name to Anne Ziegler when she made her West End stage debut in 1934, in the chorus of By Appointment. The same year, she was chosen to play Marguerite in a film, The Faust Fantasy. In 1937, credited as Anne Booth, she appeared on Broadway as Sylvia Laurence in Arthur Schwartz's Virginia and, in 1938, Booth divorced his second wife and married Ziegler.

They made their first duet recordings for His Master's Voice in 1939, and in 1940 were asked to take their act on the Variety Circuit by theatrical agent, Julius Darewski. In 1941, they appeared in George Black’s London Palladium production of Gangway with Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, and Tommy Trinder, and in 1943 starred in a revival of Friml’s Vagabond King on a country-wide tour which culminated in a season at the Winter Garden Theatre, London. They became known for bringing glamour to wartime Britain, with Ziegler often wearing dresses by Norman Hartnell. Their signature songs included "Only a Rose" and "We'll Gather Lilacs".

In 1945, they starred in Kenneth Leslie-Smith’s musical play Sweet Yesterday, first on tour and then at the Adelphi Theatre, London.

Selected filmography Demobbed (1944) The Laughing Lady (1946)