Lena smiles on this video at her wedding and I'm sure she must have wanted to be happy on her wedding day - but just look at her eyes. The pain and fragility is showing in her eyes. How terribly sad. And I really can't believe such a powerful voice was coming from such a tiny, fragile body. RIP Lena - Dawn xx
She was a year younger than me, and I saw her the first time she appeared on Opportunity Knocks. We are amazed at her voice. A truly tragic person along with Karen Carpenter. RIP both.
I just found the 45rpm I bought of Lena singing Mama from the 1970s after reading the posts here. I remember buying the record as a young teen thinking that she was a fantastic singer for such a little girl. After that, we never heard from her here in the States. I was shocked and saddened to read what happened. My God....I pray she is at peace and still singing in Heaven.
This is the best video I've seen of her singing, and so beautifully at her own wedding, with a band who admitted they hardly knew the song(tho' they did fine). It certainly made me cry with its emotional words and sad connotations. Oh Lena, thanks for your time with us.....
Heartbreaking to see this beautiful girl look so ill and fragile.Her parents and family must have shed a tear on her her wedding day.She doesnt look really happy to be getting married .God Bless her and may she be eternally at peace now
Thanks for this......This is amazing. I was 2 years below Lena at Italia Conti stage school.She was fantastic and still is. THank you so much for these postings LenaZavaroniFAN xx
It's very easy to play the 'blame game',but completely pointless. Nothing will bring Lena back, and the sad truth is that she was offered help. Her father tried, her cousins tried. She just couldn't fight her demons. Of course there were things done (letting a 10 year old go off to London without at least one parent, putting her in a stage school, etc) which were appalling. What I would hope is that Lena's story is seen as a warning to the parents of current and future child performers.
Lena had such desperately low self-esteem, she would have sung till she dropped dead to please others. Which is pretty much what she did. Most anorexics think very little about themselves. And no matter how much she was loved & complimented, she never believed it herself.
I see what your saying, no one really 'got it' and it wasn't really understood that much and maybe if it was in today's society she could have gotten better help....I don't know, I was only 7 when she died and I wish I could have known about her sooner.
It was tragic what happened to her, but why do you have to add pathos as master judge and jury to something you have decided, but know nothing about. We are here for loving remembrance, not bitter condemnation of those close to her who are grieving more than you can fathom, miss righteous.
Anorexia takes a toll on every body part including the vocal folds--& I suspect she was vomiting also. Listen to her earlier singing & you can tell in this wedding number she was very sick. Look how her hair deteriorates over the years. Earlier it is very smooth, later it is shaggy and damaged--even before she bleached it blond. She had it all teased up at her wedding & wore it that way later also. She probably had very little hair. You lose your hair when you do what she did to her body.
