Biography
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Born
18 August 1934
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Born In
Belfast, Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
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Died
13 April 2015 (aged 80)
Ronnie Carroll (Ronald Cleghorn; 18 August 1934 – 13 April 2015) was a Northern Irish singer, entertainer and political candidate.
Carroll was born Ronald Cleghorn in Roslyn Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1934, the son of a plumber. He scored his first hit in 1956 with "Walk Hand in Hand" on the Philips label.
He is the only singer to have represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest two years in succession. Having taken part in the 1960 UK Eurovision selection contest with the song "Girl with a Curl", he returned to win the selection and be Britain's entry in the 1962 contest, and with the song "Ring-a-Ding Girl" shared fourth place, the same placing he reached in 1963 with "Say Wonderful Things". This success was followed by two Top 10 hits during 1962 and 1963, but a lack of good material meant that he could not sustain a chart presence. In 1962 he appeared on the bill of "The Winifred Atwell Show". From Monday, 17th September, 1962, for one week only, he gave twice nightly performances at the Brighton Hippodrome.
Carroll subsequently worked on cruise ships, including the QE2, with John Marcangelo who was the drummer with the Ronnie Carroll Orchestra. He played a pop musician named 'Ronnie' in the 1965 film Man in the Dark.
In 2005, he released a comeback album, Back on Song.
Carroll contested his home Hampstead and Highgate constituency seat in the 1997 UK General Election, and the Uxbridge by-election in July that year with the Rainbow Alliance. He stood in the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election as a candidate for Make Politicians History and received 29 votes, despite announcing that he was trying to enter the record books by receiving no votes.
He stood as a candidate (under the name 'The Eurovisionary Carroll') for the 2015 general election, in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency. Nominations had closed on 9 April 2015, just four days before his death, but polling day was not until 7 May. He was standing as an independent so the poll continued; if he had won the election, the ballot would have been re-run at a later date. In the event he polled 113 votes to finish sixth out of seven candidates.
Through work in variety theatre he met his first wife, Millicent Martin, to whom he was married from 1958 to 1960. His second wife was the Olympic runner June Paul with whom he ran an unsuccessful nightclub in Grenada. He was declared bankrupt in 1974 and his second marriage ended. Carroll later married and divorced a third wife, South African-born Glenda Kentridge.
He latterly lived in Hampstead, north London, and was a regular caller to phone-in shows on BBC London 94.9. He died in London on 13 April 2015, at age 80. He was survived by two sons with June and a daughter and son, his children with Glenda.
Singles discography
"Walk Hand in Hand" – (1956) – UK Singles Chart - No. 13
"The Wisdom of a Fool" – (1957) – No. 20
"Footsteps" - (1960) – No. 36
"Ring-A-Ding Girl" – (1962) – No. 46
"Roses Are Red" – (1962) – No. 3
"If Only Tomorrow" – (1962) – No. 33
"Say Wonderful Things" – (1963) – No. 6
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