ARCHIVE NO. 101 · Later twentieth century
Brenda Collins
Comedy vocalist and impersonator
Brenda Collins, associated with Bowburn in County Durham, built a varied career combining stand-up comedy, singing, impersonation and pantomime. Her stand-up is remembered as clean comedy.
Cruise-ship entertainment became a substantial part of her working life, alongside a Cilla Black impersonation and the tribute show Remembering Cilla. She tells her own story in the autobiography Stage by Stage: From Crib to Cruise.