Music legend Lena Zavaroni died with no money to her name after her life was plagued by a devastating health battle. The singer first found fame when she was just 9 after she appeared on BBC talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1974. Later that year, she released her debut album Ma! (He's Making Eyes At Me), which got to No.8 in the UK Albums chart.
She remains the youngest person to have a an album in the Top 10 at 10 years old, and the success quickly catapulted her into stardom.
While attending the Italia Conti school, she met Bonnie Langford, who would become one of her closest friends, and the pair starred in the ITV special Lena and Bonnie. Lena also sang alongside Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball at a Hollywood charity show, quickly attracting the attention of music producers and talent agents.
She bagged her own BBC primetime show on Saturday nights called Lena Zavaroni and The Music, and another BBC show Lena, which aired from 1980 to 1982, but viewers quickly noticed something was wrong.
Just three years later, Lena suffered a breakdown on stage while performing in Merseyside, and was later diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.
Her career began to dry up after she married computer consultant Peter Wiltshire in 1999, as the star faced a series of tragic events. Her showbiz memorabilia was lost in a fire, and her mother died of an overdose.
Her marriage broke up after 18 months, and she decided to move to Hertfordshire to be close to her father, but had to take state benefits and live in a council flat fter being left unable to work, telling family she "didn't have the energy to perform anymore".
The star's life was plagued by her disorder, and she even had leucotomy surgery, where the nerves of the frontal lobe of the brain are cut, to try and cure the disorder and her depression.
Despite medical staff saying she was cheerful and making good progress after the operation, she quickly deteriorated and died just three weeks later.
Lena passed away aged 35 on October 1, 1999 after falling ill with pneumonia, and was just four stone at the time of her death. An inquest also stated she was on a £48 a week benefits plan at the time of her death.
Langford said that when Zavaroni died, she believed she was "finally free". She added: "As they carried her coffin down the aisle a black butterfly flew off. I said, ‘That’s Lena. There she is. She’s gone. She’s free'."
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