A Song in her Heart

Shani Wallis and Belinda Williams

A ripple goes around the backstage area at the Blackpool Winter Gardens, where we are filming for Britain’s Got Talent. One of the runners wanders by, “Someone famous has arrived and everyone is really excited about it, but I don’t know who she is. Have you heard of Shani Wallis?”

Heard of her, I grew up watching her every weekend. One of our few videos, our treasured recorded-from-television VHS tape of Oliver!, the 1968 Lionel Bart musical, came out reliably every Saturday morning. It was with the role of Nancy -  the original Eastend girl with a heart and a voice of gold - that Shani Wallis gained a place in the firmament of musical superstars. But she was already in her 30s when that was filmed. I quickly get out my fingers to do the maths, and I realise Shani will be in her 90s now.

At 93 years old, Shani is one of the few stars from that golden age of musicals, and here she was walking around the corner with her entourage of adoring nieces.

It is at that point that I burst into tears. Here is a woman I know from many a childhood hour, and it is palpably clear that a beautiful spirit has just walked into the room. There is some kind of bright light emanating from this diminutive lady, tiny and yet not frail, a sparky nonagenarian megastar. It is then that one of the show’s producers comes up and asks if Elsie and I would like to interview Shani.

We sit down together, and I really fall at the first hurdle in my interview technique, as all I can say for a minute or so is, “You are so beautiful”.  It is true, Shani Wallis is breathtakingly beautiful. Nine decades on this earth, and her eyes are glacially clear, glittering with interest and intelligence. She is keen to hear about us, and I keep having to steer the interview back to her illustrious career, reminding her that we are very, very lowly in comparison. 

We talk first about the incredible impact and legacy of Oliver!, and I tell her how I used to curse that Bill Sykes when he did her in. “Yes, I used to curse him too, and not just on screen!”, she says with a playful smile spreading over her face. Oliver Reed as Bill gives a terrifyingly intense performance as Nancy’s ne’er-do-well lover, but it is no secret that he could be a difficult castmate. We talk about her iconic red russet gown with the holes under the armpits. “Yes, the armpits split from all the dancing, and we decided to keep it as part of the costume, because Nancy would not have been able to afford a new gown herself, would she”.

The whole time we are speaking, Shani holds my hand. She is both warm and ethereal at once, the wisdom of her years showing as she speaks, but also a youthful curiosity and playfulness remaining. We come back to Reed and she tells me she preferred the dog, Bullseye. “He was a white bulldog, you know, they had to paint the little black circle around his eye”. I ask her why she’s back in the UK to sing on Britain’s Got Talent when her home has been the US for so long now. “It’s where I’m from! I’m back in my homeland”. Shani lives long term in LA, surrounded by adoring family, and she clasps at her heat whenever she talks about her family and her late husband Bernie Rich.

Shani’s heart is full of love, and, she tells me, full of song. “I’m always singing”, always a catch in her head, everything reminding her of a ditty. She bursts into song, like a linnet to prove this point, and tells me she still dances as well. And suddenly the producers are whisking her off to do what she does best in front of the 3,000 strong audience. We finish the interview, take off our microphones, take photos, hug goodbye

A few minutes later, I remember something. I run up to Shani. The microphones are off us now, the cameras are busy elsewhere. I ask,  “Shani, what  is your secret?”

“Love, darling. All you need is love.”