Jess Conrad is a name that will be instantly recognisable to anyone familiar with 1960s pop culture. Emerging from the decade as one of Britain’s most versatile stars, Jess has sung on hit records, starred in cult movies, headlined stage shows..and hasn’t stopped ever since!
By Ian Woolley
Finally, he’s found time away from all of this to write his memoirs about his amazing life and career. As you’ll discover in his new book ‘From Blitz To Glitz’, Jess pulls no punches in telling it as it is—warts and all.
At an early age, his mother told the young Gerald Arthur James that he would break many people’s hearts. Little did she know then that her premonition would be so true later for her good looking little boy.
“So it was doctored into me as that was what I was going to do: breaking women’s hearts”, Jess begins to tell me. “Not for one moment did I think I was ever going to get into showbusiness, of course.”
“As I say in my book, being good-looking and being a bus driver is no good. If you’re good-looking, get into show business.”
“When I was a teenager and visited the West End hotels of London, my first big idol was Maxwell Reed. He was a very handsome man, but as I found out later, he wasn’t a very nice person and not a good actor. He was the first English guy who looked like those American film stars and later married Joan Collins.”
“Of course, we all loved Tony Curtis. In the 1950s, gangsters were glorified in movies, and after seeing James Cagney play one, he was wonderful, and I thought I’d be a gangster. A little while later, he appeared in a film dancing and singing ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’.
“The first blonde women I saw were Barbara Windsor and Diana Dors, who later became my dear friends. We used to attend premiers and events together, but unfortunately, she became unwell.
Jess with Diana Dors
“My relationship with Diana Dors was purely platonic because I knew if I’d slept with her and there would have been an affair, it would have been very difficult for both me and Diana. If we had, it would have ended at some point, and she would have moved on. Because we were platonic friends, we became proper friends, which was much better as that friendship lasted a lifetime.”
“She even died in my arms, but you can read more about that in my book.”
“When Doris Day did cabaret, Rock Hudson would appear at the end of the show with a bouquet of flowers. As Dors witnessed this, we both thought it was a good idea to do the same thing, so I’d appear with a bunch of flowers at the end of her show.”
“She was great company, and I liked being with her. She would give me good advice. I miss her to this day, and we had such fun together.”
Finally, I told him it was refreshing to see a celebrity life story told so candidly.
“I wanted to be honest because I want people to buy my book”, he replied.
The full exclusive interview with Jess Conrad will be published in our next two Beat issues. In part one, Jess talks about his deep friendship with Billy Fury and Cliff Richard, as well as some of the hilariously funny moments of his career. Order your copy today.
Jess Conrad’s book ‘From Blitz To Glitz’ (by Oak Tree Books) is available now, and you can get a signed hardback copy HERE