Frankie Vaughan CBE DL (born Frank Fruim Abelson; 3 February 1928 – 17 September 1999) was an English singer and actor who recorded more than 80 easy listening and traditional pop singles in his lifetime.

His debut went well with press comment stating "Frankie Vaughan gives a promising performance when singing some new and old songs in a crooning style.

[2] Vaughan made his first television appearance on 13 October 1951 in a variety show from the Theatre Royal, Leeds starring Gracie Fields.

In August 1952 he joined the dance band of Nat Temple for a year or so,[7] but the popularity of further recordings he made in 1953 encouraged him to return to the variety stage.

[2] He recorded a large number of songs that were covers of United States hit songs, including Perry Como's "Kewpie Doll", Jimmie Rodgers' "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", Boyd Bennett's "Seventeen" (also covered in the US by the Fontane Sisters), Jim Lowe's "The Green Door", and (with the Kaye Sisters), the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me".

[10] Managed at this time by former journalist and theatrical agent Paul Cave,[11] Vaughan stayed in the United States for a time to make a film with Marilyn Monroe, Let's Make Love (1960), and was an actor in several other films, but his recordings were never chart hits in the US,[1] with the exception of "Judy", which reached No.100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1958.

[12] In 1985, Vaughan starred in a stage version of 42nd Street at Drury Lane in London,[2] opposite his old friend Shani Wallis who appeared in their first film together, Ramsbottom Rides Again.

[2] Vaughan was married to Leeds-born Stella Shock (1924–2022) from 1951 until his death; the couple had three children, a daughter Susan (b.1963) and two sons, singer and yoga elder David Sye (b.1961) and actor-singer Andrew Abelson (b.1968).

[citation needed] Vaughan had been a subject of the show previously in April 1970 when Eamonn Andrews surprised him at the Caesar's Palace nightclub in Luton.

[2][1] His wife Stella donated archival materials, including scores and sheet music he had collected throughout his career, to Liverpool John Moores University in 2000.