Mary Lee

Mary Lee (born Mary Ann McDevitt; 13 August 1921 – 13 March 2022) was a Scottish singer, variety performer and broadcaster whose career spanned the 1930s to the 1990s. She achieved early recognition whilst still a teenager as a vocalist with Roy Fox's dance band, which was one of Britain's most popular in the interwar period. At the time of her death, Lee was the last surviving singer who had been active with the British dance bands in the 1930s, the heyday of their popularity. She later became known in Scottish variety through performing with her husband, comedian Jack Milroy, and presented an award-winning programme on Radio Clyde in the 1990s. in a second floor Glasgow tenement flat on Scotland Road in Kinning Park. She was the first child of Isabella and Willie McDevitt; her mother was a housewife, and her father was a lorry driver for Shell-Mex & BP. McDevitt's younger brother Eddie was born three and a half years later. As a child, she sang along to the bands on the radio at home. She attended Scotland Street Primary School and Lambhill Street School, originally planning to be a hairdresser. Aged ten, she began singing on Saturday nights at a church hall. There were no microphones, so she sang with a megaphone. "Truckin'" had first been introduced by Cora LaRedd at the Cotton Club in New York City; as was the custom of the day, dance bands would record cover versions of popular contemporary songs.

Lee was regularly used as a featured vocalist on the band's recordings, billed on the label as "with Vocal Refrain by Mary Lee". In 1936, Fox began recording for His Master's Voice, and at his first session for the label, Lee sang "(If I Had) Rhythm In My Nursery Rhymes". The following year, by now aged 15, she recorded a duet with one of the band's male singers, Denny Dennis. They covered George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off", from the contemporary film Shall We Dance, in which it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In June, Lee recorded vocals for Fox's version of "This Year's Kisses", a song by Irving Berlin from the musical film On the Avenue, in which it was introduced by Alice Faye.

War and post-war Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Lee was invited to broadcast on Saturday nights with Ambrose and his Orchestra from The May Fair Hotel, which she did for several months. By now, Lee had grown up and needed to be established as an adult artist. During the war, she also sang with The Squadronaires, a Royal Air Force (RAF) dance band. Following a summer season in Dunoon, Lee decided to stay in Scotland, and appeared in comedy sketches for a summer show at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow with Tommy Morgan.

She mostly remained in Scotland for the next ten years, but in 1940, she briefly joined a top of the bill variety act, Stars of the Air, appearing with Sam Browne, Max Bacon and Gloria Brent at the Shepherd's Bush Empire for six months.

Later life Despite being an established star when she met her husband, who was just starting out in entertainment, Lee decided to put family life ahead of her showbusiness career. Again appearing in a 'Dance Band Days' section of the show, she and Denny Dennis reprised their 1937 duet of "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", and Lee sang "Nice Work If You Can Get It".

Lee and her husband Jack Milroy were honoured with a dinner by the Scottish branch of the Variety Club of Great Britain in the 1980s. In 1991, she appeared as Old Woman in the Rab C. Nesbitt television series. She recalled her three years with Fox's band, commenting, "It was really brilliant. And these boys knew what they were doing. You went on and you knew you were working for the best musicians in the world. And you couldn't else but be good. It was a happy, happy time."

Personal life and death Lee married Ronald Jackley Hirsch, known professionally as Ron Jackley, in 1942; he was the brother of the comedian Nat Jackley. The couple performed together on stage, and they had a daughter, Diana, in 1946, but the marriage did not last. Lee subsequently married Jack Milroy in Aberdeen in 1952, and they had a son, Jim. Milroy became half of the famous Scottish double act Francie and Josie, in which Milroy played Francie and Rikki Fulton was Josie. Lee and Milroy also performed together, having formed a comedy and musical double act. In 1992 and 1993, they sang a duet on Scottish Television's Hogmanay shows. Their marriage lasted for over forty years, only ending with Milroy's death on 1 February 2001. Lee's grandson, Darrell Currie, is a well-known sports journalist and television presenter.

She was an Honorary Member and Honorary Vice-President of the Scottish Music Hall Society. In August 2021, Lee turned 100. She died at her home in Glasgow on 13 March 2022.