It’s easy to forget how big a star Ken Dodd was in the 1950s and for several decades after that. He has been described as ‘the last great musical hall entertainer’ and he continued to perform right up until the year before his death in 2018 – a long career as well as a successful one.
So, to be the headline act on the bill of the Ken Dodd show was a big deal and, in May 1961, Mona flew in from Germany to do just that (and this was not the only time she appeared on his show).
You can find a number of dates given for the year of Mona’s birth on the internet, the correct answer is definitely not 1930 as stated in the programme! In ‘What about the Princess – The life and times of Mona Baptiste’ we clear up the confusion once and for all – Mona was born on 21st June 1926.