30th April & 5th May 1967
Appearances
Armley Prison – Leeds
Although Jayne didn’t play any nightclubs in Leeds, her brief time in the city left some very interesting history, namely a prison concert, plus an intriguing set of photos with England’s own blonde bombshell Diana Dors.
Jayne landed at Leeds airport on Sunday 30th April, no doubt feeling fragile after the early hours finish of her Webbington Country Club party the night before. On arrival she was collected by a Rolls Royce courtesy of Batley Variety Club. From here she proceeded to what must have been one of the most bizarre concerts of her career at Leeds Prison. Known locally as Armley Prison after the area it is situated in, it’s not entirely clear how Jayne came to be on the bill, but we have an excellent first hand account of the day courtesy of Les Piggin, who appeared alongside Jayne with his local band Dino & the Travellers. Les contacted the site in 2024 with some excellent recollections of the day:
“Perhaps I could point out that the concert at Leeds Armley Prison on 30th April 1967 was not arranged specifically for Jayne, it was one of the concerts organised periodically by the prison Chaplain, Capt. Derek G. Dalton. I have his original letter dated 28th April 1967 confirming my group’s appearance, in which he says “also on the concert I hope to have a personal appearance of Jayne Mansfield”. So it was still not certain that she would appear.
Also on the bill were the Clark Brothers (US song & dance men), Danny Purches, Jimmy Lister, Billy Merrick & Lynn Valentine, with compere Bill Munday and a pianist. It was a good mix of variety acts and a very entertaining afternoon. It was the second time we had played at the prison and I remember that we played the Animals’ song ‘We’ve Got to Get Outa This Place’, which went down very well. I only met Jayne briefly to get her autograph, which I still have, but my impression (I was only 21) was of a very charming woman.”
Les’s recollections have placed new light on how Jayne’s booking for this concert was organised. If Capt. Derek G. Dalton, the concert organiser, had mentioned that he hoped to secure Jayne’s appearance in a letter dated 28th April, this would have probably placed the negotiations for the concert after Jayne had been sacked by Contemporary Records, and probably when she knew she was heading back to the North of England on the second leg of her tour. This is still speculation however, but Les’s personal recollection has certainly added some well-needed facts to the mystery surrounding her prison appearance.
Les has also been kind enough to allow this site to use some pictures of items from his personal archive, including the booking letter described above.
As ever Jayne made the most of the publicity which naturally surrounded a Hollywood star appearing at a prison in the North of England. A series of press photographs show her outside the imposing Victorian prison gates, reclining on the bonnet of the Rolls Royce or signing autographs for the guards. Another lesser known photograph also shows her with a gaggle of local boys who must have scarcely believed their luck when she turned up.
No footage of the prison concert itself exists, but continuing with Les’s recollections we have the famous story of Jayne and her chihuahuas. Writing on the Leodis website Les recalled:
“ Jayne had made news trying to smuggle two small dogs into the country in her fur coat. She caused uproar by asking the prisoners ‘would you like to see my chihuahuas?’”
Les confirmed to this site that this story is true:
“The story about the chihuahuas is absolutely true and got a big reaction from the inmates.”
There is also an extensive interview with Les on the DVD Jayne Mansfield – From Hollywood to Yorkshire. See the Batley page for more details of the DVD.
Please also see Les’s comment at the bottom of this page for more insight and a very good summary of where this story has appeared in various media.
Asked about her prison performance by a Daily Mail reporter Jayne commented:
“I sure think I boosted the prisoners’ morale. They looked all cheered-up. It’s the first time I’ve been in a prison but I will have to think about it again”.
The second significant part of Jayne’s visit to Leeds was an intriguing set of photographs with Diana Dors, taken in what is believed to be a Leeds hotel on 5th May. These photographs show the two blonde bombshells bonding over Jayne’s dogs and posing for the cameras in what looks like a hotel lounge. The intriguing part of these photos is that to my knowledge the actual hotel has never been definitively identified. It is believed to be the Queens Hotel in Leeds, and much evidence points to this, but there is another possible theory that the hotel is not in Leeds after all.
The Queens Hotel was used by many stars who performed in the area, and in Maureen Prest’s book she mentions that James Corrigan suggested Jayne stay here while she was performing at the Batley Variety Club. It is therefore logical that both she and Diana Dors may have been staying here as Diana was performing at the nearby Savoy Club in Wakefield and the Scala in Doncaster at the time.
However a newspaper article from the Yorkshire Post dated 1st May describes the hotel they shared as being in Wakefield. The hotel they are referring to is undoubtedly Holdsworth House near Halifax as they make no secret of the fact that Jayne stayed here in the Ayrton Room. This is also confirmed by a feature on the hotel which was included on BBC’s The One Show broadcast in 2012.
Newspaper reports about the location of the hotel may have been deliberately misleading to avoid unwanted visitors. Either way, it is certain that Jayne stayed at Holdsworth House, although she may have moved hotels during her stay in the area.
If anybody can positively identify the hotel in these pictures I would be very grateful.
A final intriguing story about Jayne’s time in Leeds also involves an obscure publicity stunt. At some point she visited Harry Ramsden’s fish and chip restaurant in Guiseley in Leeds. Once again it appears that photographers were on hand to capture the moment, and there is anecdotal evidence that a large photograph from her visit was displayed on the walls of the restaurant for many years afterwards. I wonder where that photograph ended up and if it will ever see the light of day again? If you have any information on this please get in touch.
*Thank you to Les Piggin for the information about Jayne's concert at Armley Prison.
Newspaper Articles
Previous – Weston-super-Mare | Next – Batley and Greasbrough
Jayne Mansfield in England 
Fascinating read! I too have been itching to find out which hotel the Mansfield/Dors shoot was held in. I have just been informed that the picture/etching behind them is of Sandal Castle in Wakefield. And so, whilst I always assumed the hotel was Queens Hotel, Leeds, it doesn’t quite make sense for that hotel to have a picture of a Wakefield castle there. If I find out more, I will let you know.
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Thanks very much for your comment. The Sandal Castle information is new to me and gives me another lead to try.
I recently contacted Trinity Mirror who are the rights holders to the photos to see if they had any further information in their archives but they drew a blank. There isn’t even anything on the back of the photos to tie them to any location which is frustrating.
One theory I have is that the hotel may have simply been a convenient halfway point to get Diana and Jayne together for the photo shoot. It might be that neither of them were actually staying there. The fact that it’s Sandal Castle on the picture may back this up if Jayne was appearing in Batley and Diana in Wakefield. It certainly seems to suggest that hotel is not the Queens in Leeds.
Now I have the Sandal Castle information I’ll widen my search. If you do come across any more information I’d be very grateful if you could let me know. I’ll make sure you are fully credited on the site.
Thanks again for getting in touch and adding another piece of very useful information.
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Hi. Thanks for putting together a very interesting and detailed site with some great photos. I’ve never seen a colour photo of this before. Perhaps I could point out that the concert at Leeds Armley Prison on 30th April 1967 was not arranged specifically for Jayne, it was one of the concerts organised periodically by the prison Chaplain, Capt. Derek G. Dalton. I have his original letter dated 28th April 1967 confirming my group’s appearance, in which he says “also on the concert I hope to have a personal appearance of Jayne Mansfield”. So it was still not certain that she would appear.
Also on the bill were the Clark Brothers (US song & dance men), Danny Purches, Jimmy Lister, Billy Merrick & Lynn Valentine, with compere Bill Munday and a pianist. It was a good mix of variety acts and a very entertaining afternoon. It was the second time we had played at the prison and I remember that we played the Animals’ song ‘We’ve Got to Get Outa This Place’, which went down very well. The story about the chihuahuas is absolutely true and got a big reaction from the inmates I only met Jayne briefly to get her autograph, which I still have, but my impression (I was only 21) was of a very charming woman.
You will be aware that many people have had a go at re-telling this story. The late pop historian Trevor Simpson wrote about it in his 2007 book Small Town Saturday Night, a history of popular music in Halifax. This was subsequently picked up by BBC radio producer Paula McGinley who interviewed (among many others) Trevor and myself at Holdsworth House in 2011. Her programme ‘When Hollywood Met Halifax’ narrated by Lisa Tarbuck, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 30th April 2011, the anniversary of the Leeds Prison concert, and has recently been broadcast again. It may still be on BBC iPLayer.
In 2012 the BBC’s One Show took up the story and Gyles Brandreth interviewed Carl Gresham (the Gresh) and myself at the former Batley Variety Club and a short film was broadcast. Not to be out-done, Neil Saun interviewed us all again at the Imperial Crown Hotel in Halifax to produce his DVD version of the story, which he launched at the Midland Hotel in Bradford.
I hope this information is helpful and thanks again for all your painstaking research.
Les Piggin.
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Hello Les,
Thank you so much for this valuable information. It’s so useful to have somebody contact the site who was actually there and can provide such a great insight into the day. It’s also amazing that you got to meet Jayne in person and get her autograph. A very treasured possession no doubt.
As you will see I have restructured the page around your recollections as they give a new angle on the day and provide some much-needed first hand information. If you ever feel like sharing any more of your memories of the day (however small) please do get in touch. The readers of this site are a great community who love the detail which comments like yours provides.
Thank you for taking the time to write. I really appreciate it.
James
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Hi James, Thanks for your nice comments about my post. I thought you might like to see the attached items from my own collection of oddments about Jayne. You probably already have some of them.
Jayne with Carl Gresham – the Gresh. Confirmatory letter from Capt D G Dalton at Armley Jail 28 July 1967 Jayne’s autograph (note the large loops!) with a newspaper photo. 3 photos of Jayne with dogs. Clipping from Radio Times re BBC radio programme about Jayne, 2011. Extract from Trevor Simpson’s 2007 book Small Town Saturday Night. Photo of Trevor Simpson (right) and myself with Paula McGinley at Holdsworth house, 2011. Gyles Brandreth doing his piece to camera at Batley Club 2012. Gyles and me, 2012.
Best wishes, Les Piggin.
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Hi Les,
Many thanks for being in touch again. Unfortunately the images have not come through on your comment. I wondered if you’d be able to email them to me? I sent you a quick email last week at the address you used to send your comment, so if you could reply to that with the images attached that would be fantastic. Thanks so much for offering to share your pieces of Jayne Mansfield history, I hope we all get to see them!
Best wishes,
James
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Correction – should read 28th April 1967, not July. Also photos may be in different order. Cheers.
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Hi James, I hope this works. Thanks for your nice comment about my post. I thought you might like to see the attached items from my own collection of oddments about Jayne. You probably already have some of them.
Jayne with Carl Gresham – the Gresh. Confirmatory letter from Capt D G Dalton at Armley Jail 28 April 1967 Jayne’s autograph (note the large loops!) with a newspaper photo. 3 photos of Jayne with dogs. Clipping from Radio Times re BBC radio programme about Jayne, 2011. Extract from Trevor Simpson’s 2007 book Small Town Saturday Night. Photo of Trevor Simpson (right) and myself with Paula McGinley at Holdsworth house, 2011. Gyles Brandreth doing his piece to camera at Batley Club 2012. Gyles and me, 2012.
Best wishes, Les Piggin.
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Sorry Les, it looks like WordPress is unable to handle images sent via comments. If it’s at all possible to send the images via email that would be great. Just let me know if you need any help with this. Thank you.
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