HAPPY BIRTHDAY

SHIRLEY ANNE FIELD, 80. The London-born actress (right), who became known as ‘ the British Marilyn Monroe’, recalls her Cockney lorry driver father telling her when she was just three, ‘Good job you’re funny girl, ’cause you ain’t got anything else!’ and thinking: ‘I’ll bloody show you.’ At age five, too young to be evacuated, she was sent to a children’s home in Bolton and never returned to her family. She was 38 before she saw her mother again. A trickle of film roles turned into a flood in the Sixties, including The Entertainer, Saturday night And Sunday Morning and Alfie. MICHAEL BALL, 56. The singer, actor and broadcaster from Bromsgrove admits he is highly superstitious. Before he goes on stage, he says: ‘I have to suck a sweet at a certain time, have a drink at a certain time, and nobody is allowed to whistle backstage.’ Since 1992 he has lived with ‘Queen of the Mods’ Cathy McGowan, presenter of Sixties TV rock show Ready Steady Go!