With a royal title, countless awards for her work in show business, and numerous honors for her civic dedication and generous philanthropy, Dame Celia Lipton Farris has lived and loved enough for three lifetimes.
In her new book, My Three Lives, the actress, singer, producer, wife, mother, caretaker, and philanthropist turns autobiographer, chronicling the long and winding road to her present position as one of the most well-regarded women in the West.
Born in Scotland and raised in London, Celia was the daughter of famed orchestra leader and impresario, Sidney Lipton. She quickly became a child stage actress and was an overnight sensation. The London press wrote, “Celia Lipton will be a household name and child star in no time.” And they were right. Working tirelessly in the theater, including her own one-woman show at the Palladium at the age of 16, her career was interrupted by the perils of the second World War, where she witnessed firsthand the aftershocks of the Blitz, spending nights in bomb shelters, slipping out to help her mother douse roof fires ignited by the raids. Post war, she prevailed, going on to star in long-running musicals, and working to support her family in the absence of her father.
“We have a lot in common, I have had three lives and Donald has had three wives.”
As she played the theaters of the West End of London—Celia was the first to play Peter Pan and the youngest Peter Pan ever on the stage. And she played a record 670 sold-out performances of The Quaker Girl as well as starred in Maggie, opposite James Broderick (Matthew’s father) for eight shows a week on Broadway—catching the attention of record companies, she began recording for Columbia Records at the famed Abbey Road studios. Celia can still be heard on the BBC radio and easy listening stations in the United States today. Her career as a recording artist is chronicled in the Jazz Archives of the UK. Her stage career as a musical comedy actress is chronicled at the Theater Hall Of Fame in New York’s Gershwin Theater. Currently, she serves as the Honorary Chairwoman of the Theater Hall of Fame in NYC.
As the entertainment industry adapted to a new media age, Celia was ahead of the curve. While working Broadway she accepted the role of Esmerelda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame, produced for NBC. Immediately her performance caused the press to dub her a “British Legend.” Celia would eventually play roles for all three major networks, from playhouse dramas to soap operas. She was a regular on Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theater. Soon, her fame and appeal was enough for her to headline her own show at the famed St. Regis Roof in NYC. The highest of high society and the royalty of mid-century show biz turned out for the opening. After only six months in the United States, Celia was named by columnist Radie Harris a “British singing sensation with an American twist.”
In her second life Celia went on to marry the great industrialist/inventor Victor W. Farris, consultant to the U.S. Navy, and inventor of the “Farris Valve” used on battleships (he also invented the milk carton and filed upwards of 275 patents). Now a step removed from show business, Celia excelled in the new roles of wife, mother and caretaker to her beloved parents. Residing in a mansion in Englewood, New Jersey once owned by the great writer Upton Sinclair, she built a home with her family and eventually relocated to Palm Beach, where she now resides. An avid yachtsman, Victor found Palm Beach to be a paradise for boaters and his wife found it a fitting society for her interests. Soon, Celia became friends to Marjorie Merriweather Post and a host of other society ladies. Along with them, she worked with a variety of notable charities and became known as a great chairwoman. “If Celia is involved with the ball, everyone wants to be there,” said Mary Sanford, at the time one of the grand dames of Palm Beach.
It was natural that Celia would soon befriend Donald Trump, as he purchased a property she knew so much about, Mar-A-Lago, now unquestionably the most prestigious club in Palm Beach. Celia became one of the first members and encouraged friends to join, establishing the club’s prominence very early. Trump, whose compliments are always measured, speaks glowingly of Celia’s friendship: “She is one of the most generous and talented people I have ever had the honor of meeting and knowing—a truly great woman and a remarkable example for all of us.” The two powerhouses remain friends and admirers of one another still. Celia likes to joke that they “have a lot in common: I have had three lives and Donald has had three wives.”
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Celia with Russell Simmons in 2006
at an event at Mar-A-Lago. |
Celia with Donald and Melania Trump
at Mar-A-Lago for the annual Cancer Ball
in 2007. |
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| Celia Lipton starring as Lady Sybil in the Broadway musical production of Maggie. |
Celia with Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra, and Whoopi Goldberg at the American Cinema Awards in 1992. |
After the tragic passing of her husband, Celia returned to show biz and to London to perform in a VE Day Celebration in Hyde Park, singing for the Royal Family and more than a million people. The evening marked the beginning of what she calls her third life. Performing again, commanding again a one-woman show, while composing fundraisers for charity and producing the American Cinema Awards to benefit the Hollywood Actors Home. Back at her craft, she would go on to work with such Hollywood luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, Lucille Ball, Bette Davis, Anthony Hopkins, Bob Hope, Anthony Quinn, and many more.
“If God is good to you with
the privilege of talent and success, then one must give back or it means nothing.”
A legend in her profession, it perhaps is for her tireless philanthropy that she is most well-known. Among the first to take action when the AIDS epidemic arose, Celia called Elizabeth Taylor in 1986, just after Taylor started amfAR after Rock Hudson’s death and gave $1,250,000 for AIDS research and care. In one night, she hosted two events in Florida, giving a $1 million personal donation and inviting Taylor and other generous luminaries to an unforgettable soiree in her mansion before heading to Miami for an art benefit. Fearlessly they dodged protestors in the streets and raised another quarter of a million dollars. Dame Celia has personally raised more than $75 million for charities in the U.S., England, and countries the world over.
“Giving back,” said Dame Celia, “is what America is about. Helping one another, especially someone less fortunate, is the most satisfying and rewarding ‘high’ anyone can have in life. If God is good to you with the privilege of talent and success, then one must share it and give back. Or it means nothing.”
With a life story that glistens like a constellation of stars, gathering the most glamorous and glorious figures of our time, Dame Celia offers a self-portrait that captures the triptych wonder of her remarkable life, an inspiration for all.
MyThree Lives by Dame Celia Lipton Farris is available on amazon.com.
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