Sadly the death has occurred of one of George’s co-stars in the musical Zip Goes A Million, dancer and actress Barbara Perry passed away on 5 May 2019 in Hollywood. Our link to Barbara may only have been through her role in the hit musical, but then some years ago back around 1998, she took the trouble to contact me via this website to tell me who she was and chat about George, Beryl and the Zip musical. Not long after our telephone chat, Barbara visited London and contacted me once again and we arranged to meet up. So along with my wife Kathryn, together with Dennis and Pat Taylor we made the journey to London to meet with George’s co-star. Dennis was of course President of the Society at that time. We spent a delightful afternoon chatting with Barbara in her hotel. Her memory of her time in the capital when she appeared on stage with George was very clear and she also got on really well with Beryl. At the time that we met with Barbara, the infamous book A Troubled Genius by David Brett had recently been released. Barbara poured scorn on the sections which Brett had written about her and her mother (who chaperoned her while staying in London) and said that he was widely inaccurate in the things he wrote about her and her mother's association with George and Beryl. In the musical, Barbara takes the role of Lilac Delaney and featured in various song and dance roles. Her memories of the show, London and of George and Beryl were nothing but good ones and both Dennis and myself felt privileged to meet with her. After Zip Goes A Million finally closed Barbara returned to the United States to enjoy a successful career on Broadway and in films and TV. Barbara was married to legendary Walt Disney animator Art Babbitt and is survived by her daughter, Laurel Lee James. She was 97 years old.

barbara perry