Dusty is to be remembered with a plaque outside her old school in Ealing.
From ealingtoday: A plaque celebrating former Ealing resident, singer Dusty Springfield, is planned for the new Ealing Fields High School (EFHS) site.
Born in West Hampstead in North London in 1939, Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien,reportedly got her nickname Dusty from playing football with the boys on the street outside their home. In 1950 her family moved to Ealing where she attended all-girls St Anne’s Convent School on Little Ealing Lane - soon to be the new location for EFHS.
Her solo career began in 1963 with the hit 'I only want to be with you' and she went on to have numerous other notable records including in 1987 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?'
with the Pet Shop Boys.
After falling ill in 1994 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and despite treatment and having been in remission, the cancer returned and she sadly died in 1999 age 59.
Ealing Civic Society are proposing a plaque to celebrate Dusty Springfield’s Ealing roots and school attendance, which would be located on the front wall to the left of the main entrance of the new school.
ECS contacted me about this and the plan was for it to coincide with Dusty Day 2021, though it is presently impossible to guarantee a date for that due to the pandemic.
Simon Bell