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Great grandmother celebrates 100th birthday by singing 'When you're smiling' to friends and family

‘Performing has always been a part of my life and it keeps me happy,’ says Letitia ‘Letty’ Lancaster

Olivia Petter
Wednesday 05 February 2020 13:03 GMT
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Great-grandmother celebraties her 100th birthday by singing 'When You're Smiling'

Letitia “Letty” Lancaster celebrated her 100th birthday in an unusual way for a centenarian: by performing a rendition of Louis Prima’s classic, “When You’re Smiling”.

A short clip of Ms Lancaster shows her marking the occasion surrounded by friends and family while wearing a birthday sash and tiara.

She can then be seen bursting into song and tapping her feet while she sings the lyrics.

“Performing has always been a part of my life and it keeps me happy,” she said. “No matter how old I am or where I am I will always sing.”

Ms Lancaster grew up in Scotland, where she currently lives in a nursing home.

She was brought up alongside seven siblings, all of whom were taught to sing and dance by their mother, who was an original member of 1980s dance troupe, Tiller Girls.

The centenarian sang professionally in her 20s alongside her brothers and sisters.

In the 1980s she performed on the chat show Des O’Connor Tonight alongside her husband George Lancaster, who died in 2010.

The couple married in 1947 and lived together in Cheadle, Staffordshire.

They have one child together, a son named Paul who was born in 1952.

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