22 December 2023 , 20:16
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She captured the heart of the nation for decades, a pop star who became almost as big as the Beatles, then a TV favourite loved for her down-to-earth charm and “lorra lorra laughs”.
Yet when the cameras had stopped, and she was back with her family, Cilla preferred to be “Mrs Willis”, ordinary wife, mother and Sunday roast cook, according to her son Robert Willis, 53. That included Christmas Day, when Cilla would invite family from Liverpool, cook a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and make sure someone found 50p in the Christmas pudding.
“She loved this time of the year and always tried to make Christmas special,” he says. “She’d always make sure we put out a mince pie and glass of champagne for Father Christmas, and a carrot for Rudolph. Our Nan and Great Auntie Nelly would come down from Liverpool. We were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve, then we’d have to wait until after lunch to open the rest. Then we’d watch the Queen’s speech, we had a little portable telly we would bring into the dining room. Nothing got thrown out, we’d have turkey sandwiches and Mum would make an amazing turkey curry.”
Cilla Black, pictured here with husband Bobby Willis and their sons Ben, Jack, and Robert, preferred to be 'Mrs Willis' once she was back with her family and the cameras had stopped rolling (mirrorpix)At the height of her fame, Cilla Black commanded audience figures above 20 million. But she and husband-manager Bobby Willis went out of their way to bring none of the trappings of fame home back to their young children, he says.
“She liked to have privacy when she was at home,” remembers Robert. “She did an incredible roast. She was always Cilla, but Mum liked to do the things ordinary mums would do.”
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Cilla Black and husband Bobby pull a cracker over Christmas dinner (Rex Features)Liverpool lass Cilla, who died in 2015 aged 72, burst onto the scene 60 years ago next month, when her first hit single, a cover of Dionne Warwick’s Anyone Who Had a Heart, went straight to No1 in 1964. Her second, You’re My World, also reached No1 and made her an international star too, with chart success in America, Canada, Australia and Europe.
It was the start of an extraordinary career, which is being celebrated on Christmas Day with a BBC Radio 2 documentary, Cilla Black at the BBC, narrated by her friend Sir Cliff Richard.
Sir Cliff Richard will narrate a new documentary about Cilla Black which will on BBC Radio 2 on Christmas Day (BBC)
Cilla Black on the Surprise Surprise Christmas Special (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Signed by the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein and championed by the Fab Four, she had 11 top 10 singles from 1963 to 1971 and was the 60s’ best-selling British female recording artist. But the documentary has unearthed clips of another special period, when she made the transition from singer to TV star with her variety series, Cilla, which ran from 1968 to 1976.
She performed with guests, did sketches, dances and duets. Showcasing her infectious personality, it proved the springboard to becoming one of Britain’s most successful TV stars, with shows Surprise Surprise, from 1984 to 2001, and Blind Date, from 1985 to 2003.
Robert says he and brothers Ben and Jack never knew a time when their mum wasn’t famous, but were lucky she and hubby Bobby, who became her manager after Epstein’s death in 1967, held “very northern values”. Robert, a TV producer, says: “We grew up in a village called Denham in Buckinghamshire, but we had no-nonsense Northern parents, we supported Liverpool FC, watched Coronation Street, and ate Northern food, although some of their favourite dishes made us kids a bit squeamish, like stuffed hearts and offal.
“She loved a very busy house, and we could always play our music as loud as we liked. Mum would come to all our school activities and sports fairs. Sometimes she’d be asked to present prizes, which she did happily.”
Cilla Black appeared on Paul O'Grady's Christmas Show in 2010 (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Although they had many famous friends, Cilla and Bobby consciously brought few home. There was one exception, though, comedian Frankie Howerd, one of Cilla’s dearest friends, who Robert called “Uncle Frankie”. “He’d stay for Sunday lunch, which was always funny with him at the table,” Roberts says.
Robert thinks it was his mum’s ability to relate to ordinary people that was the secret to her success. “She loved people coming up to her and asking for an autograph. She felt very privileged to be in that situation because she’d wanted to be a star from an early age.”
He also sees his mum as a trailblazer who changed TV. “In the 60s celebrities were very much put on a pedestal, and there was a barrier between the public and performer. Mum changed that. She’d go into the audience and chat, the kind of thing that everyone does these days. But it was her signature thing, it became part of the language of television.”
Cillia Black with her newborn son Robert after being discharged from hospital (Popperfoto/Getty Images)Robert became an even bigger part of his mum’s career after his dad’s death from cancer, aged 57, in 1999, when he took over as her manager.
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Cilla revealed in her 2003 autobiography that she was so heartbroken she would curl up in bed for 24 hours at a time. Robert says: “It was devastating. But we got through it, and got a lot closer.” Aged 61, Cilla was thrilled when grandson Max, Robert’s son with wife Fiona, came along, followed by daughter Alana. “When they were doing plays she had to come along, she loved it,” he recalls.
Robert Black says his mum 'always made sure we put out a mince pie and glass of champagne for Father Christmas' (Daily Mirror)Cilla won a new generation of fans in 2014 with an ITV biopic about her life, followed by a stage musical. The TV series was nominated for three BAFTAs, which Cilla attended six months before her death, at her Costa del Sol holiday home following a fall. Robert says he is pleased that Cilla was able to see her life being celebrated, including the years as one of Britain’s biggest pop stars she sometimes felt had been forgotten.
He says: “Mum was incredibly proud of her legacy, the fact she had helped open many doors for women presenters. Although I’m certain, we’ll never see anyone quite like her.”
Cilla Black at the BBC on Christmas Day, 10-11pm, on Radio 2 and available on BBC Sounds. Cilla in Scandinavia is on BBC Four, Christmas Eve, at 00.15 and BBC iPlayer. An album of unreleased material is out in 2024.