Hazel Provost – my years with Gracie Fields’ in Capri

Hazel Provost – my years with Gracie Fields’ in Capri

Hazel Provost, one of Gracie Fields’ last living assistants, has spoken about the Rochdale singer’s final years spent in Capri, Italy during the 1970s.

Gracie, who was born above a fish and chip shop on Molesworth Street, Rochdale in 1898, will be honoured with a statue on Packer Street in Rochdale town centre next month.

The entertainer died aged 81 but Hazel Provost, who met Gracie in 1972 and worked as one of her closest assistants until she died seven years later, still remembers the Rochdale star fondly: “I was so lucky to be able to work with her because she was great, funny and she made me laugh a lot as well. She was very kind and not a prima donna. I am probably the only person left that knew her so well.

“I was always a fan of hers and I went to Capri when I was young. A tour guide got me a job to help look after a small child, but I had to wait before I could start.

“I went to see Gracie during that time and she said ‘come and work for me!’ – it was pure luck really. The nice thing was I got on so well with her and she treated me like I was her own, some people in the town thought I actually was her daughter. The locals loved her as well.”

“I used to look after her when she was poorly and would make her breakfast. I was into the beauty side of things and I did her nails, gave her a facial and cut her hair, too. I did whatever she wanted.”

Hazel, now 73, recalled some of her greatest memories of the time she spent with Gracie: “We went to Naples one day for an event with the American Air Force. I spotted a puppy there and that’s how we got Sandy – the last of Gracie’s many pets. I wish I still lived there sometimes.

“Another time we went to Sorrento, it was a lovely day and we got in a rowing boat. Gracie was really energetic and she used to wear me out, she went swimming every day and tried to teach me. She put me on a rope and dragged me around but it never worked.”

Unfortunately, Hazel, who lives in Kent, won’t be coming to Rochdale for Gracie’s statue unveiling on September 18 this year, but she does have a few reminders of the singer. She explained: “I was going home for a few months to see my family and Gracie hadn’t been well. She seemed OK before I left and had told me I must go to see my family.

“She died a week later but I think she knew that was coming. She gave me a lovely ring the morning I left, but it was still a great shock when I heard the news.

“I also have a red brick from her first house on Molesworth Street in Rochdale after it was demolished about 20 years ago.”

A memorial trail in honour of Gracie, which began at the start of this year, will be complete when the statue of the entertainer is erected next month.