Cilla Black special edition of "Coronation Street". In 2014, Black was the subject of a three-part television drama series, "Cilla", focusing especially on her rise to fame in 1960s Liverpool and her relationship with Bobby Willis. ITV aired the first instalment on 15 September 2014, starring BAFTA award-winning actress Sheridan Smith. Black was married to her manager, Bobby Willis, for 30 years from 1969 until he died from lung cancer on 23 October 1999. They had three sons: Robert (born 1970, who became her manager), Ben (born 1974) and Jack (born 1980). Their daughter, Ellen (born 1975), was born prematurely and suffered
Cilla (TV series) Cilla (TV series) Cilla was a BBC TV programme hosted by British singer Cilla Black. It ran for eight series from 30 January 1968 to 17 April 1976. Then-British singing star Cilla Black was offered her own show on the BBC, to be eponymously called "Cilla", by Bill Cotton in 1967. Cotton was then Assistant Head of Light Entertainment. The first series of the show started broadcasting on Tuesday, 30 January 1968, on the first show of which Black's guest was Tom Jones and the two music stars sang a duet together. Paul McCartney (without Lennon) wrote the theme tune