Lennie Peters

Leonard George Sargent (22 November 1931 — 10 October 1992),<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> stage name Lennie Peters, was a British singer. He was one half of the folk and pop duo Peters and Lee with Dianne Lee.

Early life

Peters was born in Islington, London to fishmonger John Seargant.<ref name=":0" /> He was one of six boys.<ref name=":0" /> He was born a natural singer and taught himself how to play piano.<ref name=":0" />

Career

Lennie began singing in working men's clubs in the 1950s. In 1960, Peters formed The Migil Five to be his backing band; he left the group before they had their hit song "Mockin' Bird Hill".<ref name=":0" /> He made his radio debut in 1963 on BBC's Town & Country show.<ref name=":0" /> In 1968, he met Dianne Lee and formed the duo Peters and Lee.<ref name=":0" /> In 1973, they won seven episodes in a row of Opportunity Knocks, which at the time was a record breaking amount.<ref name=":0" /> Their first single, "Welcome Home", released in 1973, went to number one in the UK and Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Between April-May 1976, they hosted a six-part television, Meet Peters & Lee.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> The duo split up in 1980. Peters took up acting and had a role as a crime boss in the 1984 film The Hit. Peters also re-started his solo career, putting out a few records, none of which were successful and an album, Unforgettable, in 1981.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> He reunited with Dianne on three occasions; 1986, 1989 and 1992.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Larkin, Colin (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music. Virgin. p. 330. Template:ISBN</ref>

Eyesight

Peters had complete loss of sight in both of his eyes, however he has an unusual way of doing so as instead of being born with an illness that means he is already blind from birth or a disease that gradually destroys his vision over time, Peters instead was born with full vision but lost sight in both eyes during two separate occasions during his childhood:

His left eye was blinded in a car crash when he was five years old.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> His right eye was blinded during an incident when he was sixteen in the summer of 1948 when a gang of hooligans threw stones at him while he was sunbathing, Peters stood up and politely asked the gang to stop, which led to one of them throwing a brick in his face; while in hospital the doctors informed him that his right eye's vision could be saved however when Lennie saw an old man on his ward who was about to fall out of his bed, he quickly stood up to save him, but unfortunately the strain of doing this detached the retina in the eye, and he permanently lost sight in that eye (the old man died the next day).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Peters met his wife, Sylvia, at a night club. They were married and had two children.<ref name=":0" /> Lennie was the uncle to Charlie Watts, drummer for The Rolling Stones.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Peters died from bone cancer in October 1992.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 3 August 2005, Peters' daughter, Lisa Sullivan, was murdered by her boyfriend, Terry Game, after strangling her at a caravan park in Walton-on-the-Naze; she was 41.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Discography

Albums

• Unforgettable (1981)

Singles

• "And My Heart Cried / For A Lifetime" — Oriole — November 1963<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref>
• "Love Me, Love Me / Let The Tears Begin" — Oriole — 25 September 1964<ref name=":3" />
• "Stranger In Paradise / Behind My Smile" — Pye — 22 April 1966<ref name=":3" />
• "Here We Go Again / For A Lifetime" — Gemini — 6 March 1970<ref name=":3" />
• "This Is A Record Of My Love (Happy Birthday, Darling) / I Just Need You" — EMI — 24 April 1981<ref name=":3" />
• "Why Me / I've Got Faith In You" — Lifestyle — December 1982<ref name=":3" />
• "Key Largo / I Love Both Of You" — Relax — November 1985<ref name=":3" />

Filmography

• Meet Peters & Lee — himself — six episodes — 1976<ref name=":2" />
• The Hit — Mr Corrigan — film — 1984<ref name=":2" />
• The Conway Brothers Hiccups Orchestra — himself — short film — 1984<ref name=":2" />