{"id":538172,"date":"2026-04-18T18:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/538172\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T18:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:02:11","slug":"shani-walliss-quest-to-perform-at-the-royal-variety-show-at-the-age-of-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/538172\/","title":{"rendered":"Shani Wallis\u2019s quest to perform at the Royal Variety show \u2014 at the age of 93"},"content":{"rendered":"

It only took a moment for the Britain\u2019s Got Talent judges to realise who was standing before them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was here on this stage 70 years ago,\u201d the woman in her nineties declared, \u201cbut you will probably remember me as the female star of the Academy award-winning motion picture Oliver!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNancy!\u201d Alesha Dixon<\/a> and Amanda Holden, judges on the ITV talent show, almost immediately shouted. \u201cWhat an honour,\u201d Dixon added.<\/p>\n

Shani Wallis, who recently turned 93, played the heroine in the 1968 film alongside Oliver Reed, who played Bill Sikes. Almost 60 years later, she proceeded to deliver a pitch-perfect, theatrical rendition of her character\u2019s iconic song, As Long as He Needs Me, to a standing ovation from the auditorium.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A clip of her audition, in Blackpool\u2019s Winter Gardens on March 10, has now had nearly 1 million views on YouTube. Wallis received four yeses from the judges, putting her through to the next round in the competition. The ultimate winner secures a place to appear at the Royal Variety Performance in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wallis said the moment, which surprisingly didn\u2019t make the cut for ITV\u2019s main show but was broadcast on its spin-off programme Britain\u2019s Got Talent: Unseen, was set up by her showbusiness friend, Gregor Gee.<\/p>\n

The actress, who was born in Tottenham, north London, but has lived in America since 1962, said returning to the UK brought up feelings of nostalgia. \u201cWhen I went back it hit me like a ton of bricks. The people are so warm and welcoming and they know me. Here [in the US] you get lost in the traffic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys didn\u2019t know me [Simon Cowell and KSI<\/a>]. But what was so exciting was that the whole audience did \u2026 It was really very exciting to go back,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"ShaniWallis and Oliver Reed read The Times in Oliver! Romulus\/Warwick\/Kobal\/Shutterstock <\/p>\n

Wallis, who was in her early thirties when she played the tenacious Nancy who ultimately saves Oliver\u2019s life, reflected on her fellow Oliver! cast: \u201cThere are not too many people in the movie left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was mad about Sir Carol Reed [the director] and Johnny Green who did the music,\u201d she added. Reed died from a heart attack in 1976 at the age of 69, Green died aged 80 in 1989.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of the people in the show that have gone but they were all monumental. Giant people. Wonderful people.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ShaniWallis in 1959Shutterstock Editorial<\/p>\n

But Wallis still speaks to the actor who played Oliver, Mark Lester. \u201cWe did a podcast a very short time ago. Maybe about four months ago,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The same year the film was released, Wallis married her American agent, Bernie Rich, and they were together until his death in 2016. \u201cWe were married for 50 years and spent a lot of years together in Vegas. He travelled with me,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"RetiredWith her grandchildren McKenna and Sienna Shani Wallis<\/p>\n

The couple grew their expansive family, which included three of his children from a previous marriage and a daughter together, Rebecca Rich, who is 54. \u201cMy husband was married before and I met all three of his children. I\u2019ve loved them for ever, they are fantastic. They always say \u2018love you Shani\u2019\u2026 it\u2019s everything,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said her family helps her to stay vibrant even in her nineties. Her daughter is the managing director of a pharmaceutical company in Texas. Wallis also has two granddaughters: McKenna, 24, who works in sales in Texas, and Sienna, 18, who is at college in California studying to become a dermatologist. \u201cI have been blessed. I\u2019ve been blessed so much in my life. With grandchildren, with a beautiful daughter, with stepchildren,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

As well as playing Nancy in the 1968 film, which won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Wallis performed in television roles in America including in Charlie\u2019s Angels and Columbo. She also toured, performing on stage with Frank Sinatra and the pianist and singer Liberace. <\/p>\n

\"ShaniAs Nancy with Fagin (Ron Moody) and Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) in the 1968 film Oliver!Alamy<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked hard all my life. I love theatre. I love Vegas. A lot of years. Big names. Jack Benny. Liberace. All the big names in Vegas. They all taught me wonderful things. I always had good teachers, I mean, I did two years at Rada. But nevertheless it\u2019s experience that teaches you,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wallis grew up in a musical household and her brother, Leon, was a drummer \u2014 her greengrocer father was deaf so didn\u2019t mind them practising loudly. \u201cMusic is the spice of life. It is glorious,\u201d she said, adding that her love for music helps her stay vibrant and energised. She has played piano all her life. <\/p>\n

The actress, who unwinds with a glass of wine every evening and enjoys looking after her garden and going for walks, is now writing a memoir, titled It\u2019s a Fine Life. <\/p>\n

\"ShaniPeter Robertson<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s her secret to her long and healthy life? Not complaining. \u201cI just enjoy [life], you know, what\u2019s the point? People they come over and they say, \u2018I\u2019ve got a pain in my side. My ribs hurt\u2019. And who wants to know? You know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d<\/p>\n

As she looks toward the possibility of appearing at the Royal Variety Performance, Wallis remains very grateful. \u201cI enjoy my life, I do, it is so fun. But look, we only get one, we only get one life. If you don\u2019t enjoy this one, you don\u2019t get a second, you don\u2019t get a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It only took a moment for the Britain\u2019s Got Talent judges to realise who was standing before them.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-538172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}