Such a powerhouse of energetic comedy was Avril Angers that, at the peak of her fame on radio and on the variety theatre circuit, she was dubbed ‘the British Lucille Ball’. No pressure then. Not that Avril need worry. She could lift an audience in an instant, with her fizzy wit and skills as comedienne, singer, dancer, and, when the roles came along, an impressive actress. Typically self-deprecating, she would counterbalance praise by admitting she was the only Liverpudlian who couldn’t play the guitar!
Born into showbusiness, by the time Avril was a teenager, in the mid-Thirties, she had been given the title role of Cinderella, at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham.
Her early 20s coincided with the Second World War, when she channelled her talents into cheering up the troops,…
