Lita Roza was born Lilian Patricia Lita Roza on the 14th March 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 during the blitz of 1940 in London, her family wanted her back in Liverpool. She turned to singing on her return and managed to get a job as a resident singer in a Merseyside club called The New Yorker. Shortly afterwards, she signed to become a singer with The Harry Roy Orchestra, one of Britain's leading wartime big bands, however when Roy was booked to tour the Middle East, the young Lita Roza was not allowed to join them, being only 17 years old . At just 18 years, she retired from sh...