KENNETH DUKE had two broad professional interests, German Foreign Office documents, 1918-45, and the economies of the Soviet bloc. As a German speaker he was put in charge, in 1945, of sifting captured German documents to find evidence with which to prosecute the commanders of the German navy

He had the entire German naval archive at his disposal. The couple moved to Florida in 1988.Ryan’s personality may be gauged by her entry in the 1962 Radio Luxembourg Book of Record Stars “Pet likes: lounging casually at home Pet hates: rude, loud, ill-mannered people Favourite food: Chinese. Her new husband was the millionaire impresario Harold Davison, who handled Frank Sinatra. Their first big hit was “Don’t Bring Me Your Heartaches” which reached No 13 in 1965.In 1967 she retired after a second marriage.

She sang two goodish numbers, “Love A Man” and “You Are Maximum Plus”.By the Sixties, Ryan’s two sons had grown up into a duet of singing teenagers, and as Paul and Barry Ryan made swift headway into the recording charts. This was followed by her only appearance in a feature film, It’s All Happening (1963). In this musical, starring Tommy Steele, she played herself among a galaxy of Sixties pop stars including the pianist Russ Conway, the singer Shane Fenton, the Clyde Valley Stompers and the entire George Mitchell Show from BBC television’s Black and White Minstrels. In 1961 she starred in a London Palladium stage show alongside Harry Secombe, the trumpet star Eddie Calvert and the all-round entertainer Roy Castle.Ryan’s film career was somewhat less satisfactory She made a Cinemascope debut in the Hammer musical short. These included The Bob Hope Show at Christmas 1958 and The Bing Crosby Show two years later. In this bumper number she shared billing with the gap-toothed comedian Terry-Thomas, Shirley Bassey and the forgotten funster Dave King. She even turned up in an episode of the top comedy series of the day, The Army Game.

Topping the lot was, of course, The Marion Ryan Show for Granada.Then there were variety tours, an appearance in a Royal Command Performance in 1960, and several specials made for American television. Shows included Off The Record, The Festival of British Song, Music Shop, Number Please, Starlight, Cool For Cats, Sunday Night at Blackpool and the well-remembered teenage series Six-Five Special. In the same year she made minor recording history by singing Britain’s first-ever stereo single, “The World Goes Round and Around”, at 45rpm.Her television career, apart from Spot the Tune, was equally exceptional. Her first solo recording was for Nixa, a cover job of the Rosemary Clooney hit “Sailor Boys Have Talked to Me in English”.