Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten Child Star: A powerful story of a singing sensation

Younger viewers – especially those who think of TV talent shows as a 21st-century phenomenon that began with Simon Cowell – might not have heard of Lena Zavaroni.

In the 1970s though, she was huge. The poignant documentary Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten Child Star reminds us just how much she achieved, while exploring why her story had such a tragic ending.

Lena was born in Greenock, Renfrewshire, in 1963 and grew up in the small town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, where her parents owned fish and chip shop. Her grandfather was Italian (hence the surname), and the entire family was musical – Lena started singing when she was just two.

She was still only nine when record producer Tommy Scott, who was on holiday in Rothesay, heard her and realised she had potential.

This led to her appearing on the talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1974, where the little girl with the big voiced wowed millions of viewers and won the show for five consecutive weeks.

She went on have a hit with the single Ma! (He’s Making Eyes at Me) and the album of the same name. That led to appearances on Top of the Pops and the Royal Variety Show, a chart-topping debut album, sharing a stage with Frank Sinatra, performing for the US President and embarking on a world tour.

However, there were soon signs that fame was taking its toll on Lena.

Her now 84-year-old father Victor remembers: “She came home when she was coming up to Scotland for a couple of weeks. I noticed she was very, very thin. She shouldn’t be as thin as that, so I took her to the doctor. He says to me ‘your daughter has got anorexia nervosa’. I’d never heard the word ‘anorexia’ that’s for sure.”

Lena would continue to perform throughout her teens, hosting her own TV series Lena Zavaroni and Music in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, her struggles were becoming more apparent, and her battle with anorexia and depression would ultimately overshadow her career. She died in 1999 at the age of 35.

The documentary features contribution from Tommy Scott, Lena’s cousin Margaret Zavaroni, and friend Carmen Cori.

Her Italia Conti stage school classmates Bonnie Langford (who appeared in a TV special with her entitled Lena and Bonnie) and Lisa Maxwell also share their memories, and fellow child star Neil Reid reveals how his experiences have echoes of Lena’s.

We also get to hear Lena’s own words, which are drawn from interviews and read by actress Erin Armstrong, who recently played the star in the acclaimed musical theatre production about her life.

However, the most moving contributions come from Victor, as he seeks to come to peace with daughter’s untimely death, and also reflects on her legacy.

Victor says: “There’s a lot of young people don’t know Lena but I’d like her to be remembered really because she had a great talent.”