Iconic jazz singer and actress Annie Ross dies aged 89

Iconic singer and actress Annie Ross, who found fame as part of jazz trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, has died at the age of 89.

She died at her home in New York City following a reported battle with emphysema and heart disease, with her manager Jim Coleman confirming Ross’s death.

The celebrated jazz singer, born in 1930 to Scottish vaudeville artists John and Mary Short, was also a stage performer and film and TV actress, and was once billed as ‘Scotland’s Shirley Temple’ when the family emigrated to Los Angeles when Ross was four.

The star, who later became a US citizen, was part of the acclaimed vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and acted in such films as Robert Altman’s Short Cuts and Superman III, after making her film debut in 1938’s Our Gang Follies.

She went on then play Judy Garland’s younger sister in 1943’s Presenting Lily Mars and, in later film work, her voice was used to replace Britt Ekland’s in 1973 horror classic The Wicker Man.

Alongside Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks, Ross was known as one of the early users of singing style ‘vocalese’, which involved original lyrics set to an instrumental jazz solo.

At the age of 22 she wrote the lyrics to the song Twisted, which would later go on to be covered by Bette Midler, and Joni Mitchell for her album Court and Spark.

The trio’s 1959 album Sing Along With Basie, which was a collaboration with Count Basie’s jazz orchestra, also earned a hall of fame Grammy award in 1998.

In her career, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross recorded seven albums, including 1957’s Sing a Song of Basie and 1962’s The Real Ambassadors alongside icon Louis Armstrong.

Ross also worked with legend Chet Baker.

An issue with substance abuse led to Ross’s career stalling in the 1960s, before she opened her own London nightclub called Annie’s Room with her then-husband, actor Sean Lynch.

She would go on to appear in the 1972 production of The Threepenny Opera alongside Vanessa Redgrave and Barbara Windsor, and reunited with Hendricks for live performances in the 80s and 90s.

After declaring bankruptcy and returning to acting, she also starred in Throw Momma from the Train and the Alfie sequel Alfie Darling.

The icon was also the subject of 2012 documentary No One But Me.

She had a son with jazz drummer Kenny Clarke, and also had a brief relationship with comedian Lenny Bruce.

Ross married actor Sean Lynch in 1963, with the pair divorcing in 1975.