Linda Lawrence - Biography

By Gary P. Rose

Linda Lawrence was born in 1948 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire and trained in London. In the early 1960's, she danced with the Jo Cook Dancers and appeared on many television programmes with them. In 1966, she performed on stage with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl at the Prince of Wales Theatre and with Ron Moody in Joey Joey at the Saville Theatre. She visited Amsterdam once a month to dance for Dougie Squires on his Dutch TV show Waauw!. The  following year, she performed in a stage production called Queenie: A Musical Comedy at the Comedy Theatre and appeared on television in The Dickie Valentine Show. She later  accepted Dougie's invitation to join the newly formed song and dance troupe the Young Generation, which choreographed by Dougie. Also included in the new line-up as was Bobby Bannerman who Linda had previously worked with in Queenie: A Musical Comedy and on Waauw!.

The Young Generation came about after BBC asked Dougie to form a group for a television special, starring Italian singer Rita Pavone, They told him they wanted 15 boys and 15 girls who could sing and dance, Eventually Dougie found 30 dancers that fitted the bill and, on account of their youth, decided to call the group the Young Generation. For the next few years, Linda worked with the Young Generation on many of the popular television series of the time, including the Rolf Harris, Lulu and Val Doonican Shows.

In 1968, the Young Generation took part in a dancing extravaganza called International Cabaret, which took place at Bern's Restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden. Then 20 of the dancers, including Linda and Bobby Bannerman, left the BBC with Dougie and formed a group called the Second Generation. The new group signed up with ITV for their own series called 2G's and the and B Pop People, which became a big hit. Following this, Dougie produced a television series for LWT called Saturday Night Variety, which showcased the individual talents of the Second Generation. In the mid-70's, the group did various television shows as well as theatre and cabaret, both in the UK and abroad.. In 1974, Linda appeared, with the Second Generation, in a television series called Late Night Drama: Starmaker.   

(c) G.P. Rose 2011