| Biography | Ronnie Ronalde was born on 29 June 1923 in Islington, north London. Ronnie performed as a childe whistling in local pubs and singing in his school choir. He left school aged 14 to be apprenticed as an account's clerk but in 1938 joined Arturo Steffani's Silver Songsters which toured variety theatres. Ronnie became known as 'the Pink of Perfection' whose whistling stole the show.
During WW2 he whistles 'Land of Hope and Glory' at a concert for evacuated soldiers from Dunkirk and did his own service in the Royal Engineers. After WW2 Arturo Staffani managed Ronnie as a solo act and sent him to Switzerland where he learnt to yodel. After becoming a mainstay of British variety theatre in 1949 Ronnie went to New York, where he appeared on a bill at Radio City Music Hall for ten weeks.
Roy Rogers 'the singing cowboy' complained that Ronalde's whistling made his horse Trigger urinate. Jane Russell was more impressed, sticking her fingers in his mouth and ordering him to whistle for her. Marilyn Monroe told him his whistling made her 'shiver'.
Back in Britain Ronalde recorded a string of chart hits, some of them produced by George Martin, such as 'If I Were a Blackbird', 'Tritsch Tratsch Polka', and 'In a Monastery Garden'. In 1953 Ronnie performed at the Royal Variety Show.
In the 1960s Ronalde bought a hotel on Guernsey an dlater emigrated with his Austrian wife Rosemarie to New Zealand, where he built a house called Whistler's Lodge, and subsequently to Australia. The couple had two daughters and one son. In 1998 Ronalde published his autobiography, 'Around the World On A Whistle'. In 199 he recorded a new album, Route 86, named after his age, and recorded a session for BBC Radio presenter John Peel, a lifelong fan. |