Dame Celia Lipton Farris, the philanthropist, singer, and actress, well known for her tireless charitable efforts in supporting causes that included the American Cancer Society, Children's Home Society, American Ballet Theater, National Trust for Scotland, the American Red Cross, and many, many others, died on March 11, 2011, at her home in Palm Beach. She was 87.
Celia, who was born on Christmas Day in Edinburgh, Scotland, was the daughter of famed orchestra leader and impresario Sidney Lipton and champion ballroom dancer Marion Lipton. Beginning at age 15, she pursued a career as a singer and actress, performing first on the West End to rave reviews, then Broadway, where she met her late husband, inventor Victor Farris.
In the late 1980s, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed her with the title Dame of a Most Venerable Order of St. John. Dame Farris sang at the VE Day Celebration in 1995 to approximately one million people, including Queen Elizabeth II and the entire royal family. She also appeared with Burt Reynolds in the TV series B.L. Stryker and released several albums that can often be heard on the radio show American Standards Radio by the Sea.
Her self-published autobiography, My Three Lives - the story of a woman who had a phenomenal life that could have literally been led by three different women - is on Amazon.com and available at Harrod's in the UK. In 2003, her recording of “Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner” was played to the troops in Iraq. In 2009, she was inducted into New York's American Theatre Hall of Fame.
The American Cancer Society established the Dame Celia Lipton Farris Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 in honor of her 30 years of generous support. “She was a great woman. She did more for charity than anybody, and she did it in a very quiet way,” said Donald Trump. Her close friend Patrick Park of Palm Beach said, “She was the kindest person I have met. She had the biggest heart-caring, loving, and tender, and she was that way to everybody. You just don't meet people like that anymore. She was a great dame in every respect.” Dame Celia will be sorely missed by so many people. She did indeed touch the hearts of many, including this writer, who is so privileged to have known her.
Two daughters, Marian Farris Retterer and Cecile Victoria Farris, as well as four grandchildren and two great grandchildren, survive Dame Celia Lipton Farris.
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