KATHLEEN McCORMACK

Born Alison Brainwood in Taree she was encouraged to take the stage name of Kathleen McCormack because it suited her stock repertoire of Scottish and Irish songs. But she was more versatile than that, recording with country acts like Johnny Ashcroft and fronting the ABC Orchestra under Jim Gussey. Boasting a recording career spanning some four decades across genres including country music, Scottish and Irish ballads, and 1920s waltz, Kathleen McCormack also appeared on television and entertained troops during the Vietnam war. A resident of London since the 1970s, McCormack remained a loyal Australian, and returned regularly to her home country to entertain on the club circuit and visit family, managing agent Darren Gray said. "She was highly involved in the Australian community in London and the UK Australian film society and other cultural events," said Gray. "I'm sure a lot of people in Australia will remember her from her club circuit days through NSW and Queensland when she worked alongside acts including Barry Crocker and the Bee Gees." 

McCormack, who died in 2013 aged 83, released 29 LPs and sold more than a million albums between the 1950s and 1970s. She was forced to stop performing as she battled a rare neurodegenerative condition. "She sang Scottish and Irish ballads back in the day when people thought only the locals could sing such music, so the album covers used to say she was born in Scotland or Ireland. That's how it worked back then," Gray said. As an actor, McCormack appeared in the popular Australian soap opera Number 96. Accompanying the ABC Orchestra and singing alongside Little Pattie, McCormack travelled to Vietnam to entertain troops during the war. "Kathy was a remarkable lady, kind hearted and full of generosity," Gray said. "She was a hugely talented singer who was much loved by her fans on both sides of the globe."

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