| 15 October 1956 - Daily Mirror
Four thousand people turned out to see Sabrina at Birkenhead, resulting
in a massive traffic jam. It turned into a near-riot when her dress strap
broke.
A RIPPING TIME FOR SABRINA
SABRINA, television and stage "dumb blonde" was ill in bed with "shock" yesterday after a stampede of fans when her neckline plunged — by accident.
She was coming out of a Birkenhead cinema after a personal appearance, when someone stepped on the train of her evening gown.
Both shoulder straps broke. A shrieking crowd of fans surged forward...
Her manager, Mr. David
Scott-Atkinson said last night: "Sabrina pulled her mink stole round her though nearly all her charms were exposed.
"Worst of all, she slipped and hit her head on the car."
And Sabrina (her real name is Norma Sykes) said In her Liverpool hotel: "I feel awful. I want to go home to Mummy."
Later she left to see her mother in Blackpool.
According to a different story ( QT,
May 61 ),
"she was attending a premier in Birkenhead and wearing
a black velvet evening dress that fit her like a second skin. The crowd
pressed close to admire the terrain and some lout stepped on the star's
train. There was a warning sound of tearing fabric, followed by a sight
for sore male eyes. Sabrina had been wearing nothing under the dress from
the waist up, and her braless bosom sprang almost into full view. The
heroine swooned at that point, and so did several sturdy lads among the
onlookers. The bobbies had to be summoned to keep order."
Read the Exposed article.
Sabrina recovers after the Birkenhead incident
Sir! 1957 reported...
Four thousand stampeded and shouted as the big-bosomed
blonde arrived to open a tailor shop at Sheffield, England [No - that was the Sheffield Riot . The dress ripping was in Birkenhead]. Dozens of
young men rushed
her, knocking down women and children. Sabrina's form-fitting dress was
torn and she was bruised and scratched.
Then at Birkenhead she took to
her bed to recover from the shock of having too much of herself revealed
in public. Sabrina was leaving a theatre
when a crowd closed in. Someone stood on the train of her black velvet
evening gown, skin-tight naturally. Someone else pushed her.
There was
a ripping sound and for a moment Sabrina stood nude to the waist. Then
she screamed and fainted. Police broke up a near riot. And well they
might. Merrie old England hasn't seen anything like it since Anita Ekberg
lost her dress in a London hotel - another sight to gladden the stout
British male heart.
According to Exposed , "Insiders still affirm that it had
been staged by Sabrina's own press agents."
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