Dana Gillespie (born Richenda Antoinette de Winterstein Gillespie, 30 March 1949) is an English actress, singer and songwriter. Originally performing and recording in her teens, over the years Gillespie has been involved in the recording of over 45 albums, and appeared in stage productions (Jesus Christ Superstar) and several films. Her musical output has progressed from teen pop and folk in the early part of her career, to rock in the 1970s and, more latterly, the blues.
Gillespie was born in Woking, Surrey. She was the British Junior Water Skiing Champion for four years, in 1962.
She recorded initially in the folk genre in the mid-1960s. Some of her recordings as a teenager fell into the teen pop category, such as her 1965 single "Thank You Boy", written by John Carter and Ken Lewis and produced by Jimmy Page. Her acting career got under way shortly afterwards, and it overshadowed her musical career in the late 1960s and 1970s. After performing backing vocals on the track "It Ain't Easy" from David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, she recorded an album produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson in 1973, Weren't Born a Man. Subsequent recordings have been in the blues genre, appearing with the London Blues Band. She is also notable for being the original Mary Magdalene in the first London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar, which opened at the Palace Theatre in 1972. She also appeared on the Original London Cast album. During the 1980s Gillespie was a member of the Austrian Mojo Blues Band.
She is a follower of the Indian spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba. She performed at his Indian ashram on various occasions, and has also recorded thirteen bhajan-based albums in Sanskrit.
Gillespie is the organiser of the annual Blues festival at Basil's Bar on Mustique in the Caribbean, for fifteen days at the end of January and it is now in its eighteenth year. The house band is the London Blues Band, which consists of Dino Baptiste (piano), Jake Zaitz (guitar), Mike Paice (saxophone), Jeff Walker (bass), and Evan Jenkins (drums) but there are also many other acts. In 2005, Mick Jagger appeared as a guest and sang songs such as: "Honky Tonk Women", "Dust My Broom" and "Goin' Down" but also many other Blues artists have appeared there through the years, such as Big Joe Louis, Joe Louis Walker, Billy Branch, Shemekia Copeland, Ronnie Wood, Donald Fagen, Rolf Harris, Ian Siegal, Larry Garner, Eugene Bridges, Big Jay McNeeley, Earl Green, and Zach Prather.
Filmography
Actress
1992
Byron's Mine (TV Movie) as
Spiritual Medium
1990
Sunday Pursuit (TV Movie) as
Maureen
1990
The Bill (TV Series) as
Mrs. Rossetti
- When Did You Last See Your Father? (1990) - Mrs. Rossetti
1989
Crossbow (TV Series) as
Hanka
- The Wind Wagon (1989) - Hanka
1989
Strapless as
Julie Kovago
1987
Gustav Mahler: To Live, I Will Die as
Anna von Mildenburg
1984
Bones as
Monika
1982
Scrubbers as
Budd
1980
Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession as
Amy Miller
1978
The Hound of the Baskervilles as
Mary Frankland
1978
Hazell (TV Series) as
Sheena
- Hazell and the Maltese Vulture (1978) - Sheena
1977
Sink or Swim (Short)
1977
The People That Time Forgot as
Ajor
1974
Mahler as
Anna von Mildenburg
1972
Till Death Us Do Part (TV Series) as
Dana Gillespie - Special Guest from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'
- Christmas Special (1972) - Dana Gillespie - Special Guest from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'
1968
Hold On: It's the Dave Clark Five (TV Movie)(uncredited)
1968
The Lost Continent as
Sarah
1968
Mum's Boys (TV Series)
- That's What Friends Are For (1968)
1968
The Vengeance of She as
Girl at Party (uncredited)
1966
Secrets of a Windmill Girl as
Singer
1966
Fumo di Londra
Music Department
2021
Globetrotting with Gillespie (Podcast Series) (title music)
2016
Bowie: The Man Who Changed the World (Documentary) (additional music)
1992
Byron's Mine (TV Movie) (performer)
Producer
2021
Globetrotting with Gillespie (Podcast Series) (producer)
