I shunned Sinatra and did it my way

FIFTY years ago, dressed in pink feathers and sequins, I fell exhausted into the dressing room at the Sporting Casino, Monte Carlo. I was one of 12 performers who had just danced off stage to There’s No Business Like Showbusiness. But then the management was thrown into a panic because the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his lover, the opera singer Maria Callas, had walked in expecting a show. We repeated our peformance for no extra pay. We didn’t mind as we were so young and thrilled to dance again. The following day there was a grand gala charity event for Princess Grace of Monaco. Shirley Bassey was the star of the show. Miss Bassey came into our dressing room and said she had lost her make-up, so I lent her my mascara. Later that week, as I strolled along the harbour looking at the yachts, a young man shouted ‘Hi!’ from a gangplank. ‘Do you want to meet Frank Sinatra?’ he said in an American accent. Did I?! I had lunch with Mr Sinatra, cowboy actor Brad Dexter and their entourage. I was far too young to add to the conversations. I can’t even remember what I ate. Mr Sinatra asked: ‘How would you like to work in Las Vegas?’ My reply was: ‘Oh no, I have to return to London to get married!’ My husband-to-be was starring in the musical Divorce Me, Darling! by Sandy Wilson, a follow-up to The Boy Friend. Nine years later, we were divorced. I wonder what would have happened if I’d gone to Vegas instead. No beautiful daughter, no grandchildren. Life can change in the blink of an eye, and there was definitely no business like showbusiness! Caroline Scattergood, Cogenhoe, Northants.