darren burn. how did he die, where and when?

[DavidRayner]

Does anyone know the circumstances and the exact date of death of former early 1970's child recording artiste DARREN BURN, son of Colin Burn (executive at EMI records in 1973) and his wife Jo. They lived in a semi at Southgate in Middlesex in 1973 when the then eleven years old Darren was being promoted as the UK's answer to American teenybopper idol Donny Osmond. Although Darren made some good records, plus a BBC Television documentary in 1973 called Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, his recording career never really took off and I have heard that eighteen years later, he took his own life in London in 1991 at the age of thirty. I need to know the district of London this happened in and the exact date if possible and the reason for his suicide. Also, are his parents still alive? Thanks in advance. David Rayner in Stoke on Trent, England.

[Chelsea97]

Hi David,

This is the only thing I could find (don't know if you've already seen it?)

http://www.boysoloist.com/artist.asp?VID=467

[DavidRayner]

Yes, thanks, I've already seen that. In fact, I wrote most of the article on there about Darren and posted the pics. Thanks all the same, Chelsea97. It was kind of you to have a look around the Internet for me. However, the entry at BoySoloists is all there is about him on the entiire World Wide Web.

[Chelsea97]

Trust ME to refer you to a piece you had written! He's also mentioned in the following (2 page) article but not in any great detail. -

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,585-18 03488,00.html

[DavidRayner]

Thanks, Chelsea97, I hadn't seen that...but as you say, not much detail. I'll have to disagree with the writer of that article, though. Young boys of the age Darren was back then (eleven) are certainly capable of falling in love. It happened to me when I was eleven and it was a painful experience because my feelings for her were completely unreturned. Only inexperienced people who have never been through that kind of thing would be of the opinion that boys like Darren were singing about something they knew nothing about.

[DavidRayner]

For anyone interested, I have recently, following a lot of painstaking research, managed to gather together the following information:

In 1991, Darren Colin Burn, aged 30 and who had been born on Monday, August 28th, 1961, in Barnet, Hertfordshire, was a computer operator living alone at Flat 7, 146 to 156, Grosvenor Terrace, Southwark, London, SE5 ONL. He was obviously suffering from depression, as he was taking the prescribed anti-depressant drug Dothiepin.

On Wednesday, October 30th, 1991, Darren was found dead in his flat. An autopsy revealed that he had died from Dothiepin poisoning and inhilation of vomit after taking an overdose of the tablets. An inquest was held at Southwark Coroner�s Court on Wednesday, January 15th, 1992 and the coroner recorded a verdict that Darren had killed himself.

Poor, tragic Darren. He must have been desperately unhappy to do a thing like that. I�m sure that if I had been with him back then, this tragedy would not have occurred. But as usual, I was in the wrong place at the right time. My next task is to try and find out why he did it and what made him so depressed and unhappy....and believe me, I WILL find out!

David Rayner.

[grayman]

I worked with Colin Burn at EMI at the time of Darren�s single. I met Colin in the 90�s and he told me that Darren
had died from a Heroin overdose. I believe that Colin is
now a landscape gardener in South Africa

[DavidRayner1]

Thanks for your reply, greyman. I'm sorry I haven't ackowledged it sooner, but I've been off the Internet for over three months due to technical reasons. I have a copy of Darren's death certificate, which I obtained for my research and it says on that certificate that he died from Dothiepin poisoning. Dotheipin was the name of the anti-depressant tablets he was taking and he wrote a suicide note and took an overdose. For the last three years of his life, he was a known drug addict, his addiction being caused by his intense personal problems. But it wasn't the heroin that killed him. He was found collapsed on the floor of his bathroom. It is very interesting to know about Colin Burn. He would be aged about 73 by now. Do you know what became of his wife, Johanna (Darren's mother)? As Darren died in Southwark, I assumed that Darren would have been laid to rest there. But research done for me by Southwark council shows that no funeral, cremation or burial for Darren was ever held in the Borough. So the location of his last resting place remains...for the time being...a mystery.

David.

[Bluepolara]

Hi David It's amazing how memories from the distant past come back with a bang when one reads sad news. I remember well ,watching Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as a teenager in the 70's, and also remember thinking at the time that Darren seemed a very lonely; no,not lonely but alone young lad, and I empathised strongly with him. I recently came across the article about his demise on the web,and was taken back to that era.From your entries on this thread I guess you must have known him well,and I feel sad that you couldn't have been there for him when he needed someone.

[Bluepolara]

I meant to include this link in my last post as I havn't seen it within this thread. http://www.childsinger.com/darren-burn/index.h tml

[DavidRayner1]

Hi, Blupolara and thanks for your contribution. No, I never met Darren unfortunately, but I was so very impressed with him from when he first came on the scene in July, 1973. I thought he was wonderful and so very talented and so intelligent for his age and I really envy those who met him.

I'm sure that if I'd been with him, he would never have been so desperate as to take his own life. But unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the right time. Yes, I too, think that he was a very lonely boy, despite the crowds of people around him when he was a youngster and it comes across only too well in certain parts of the Man Alive film.

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, the worst thing he did was to leave the Christ Church choir in Southgate, where he had just been promoted to Senior Chorister...a rare honour indeed for an eleven year old...to pursue his fateful career with EMI, who used him shamefully.

When the top brass there believed he could make a lot of money for them, they treated him like royalty and as though he was very important...which he was. But when his record career failed to take off as expected, they got rid of him and dropped him like a stone as if he was nothing. Like Bobby Driscoll before him, he'd been carried along on a satin cushion and then dropped in the garbage can. He never recovered from it.

Thanks for the link, yes, I wrote the short biography myself for that boy singer website. For practical reasons, this offer is only open to you, but if you would like a free copy of the Man Alive and People programmes about Darren on a private DVD, contact me with your name and address at brinksway53 at AOL dot com. I think you will find it very interesting. Best Wishes from David.

[BobbyJim]

check the email from me ...

[DavidRayner1]

Well, after four long years of searching, I've now hit a right royal dead end. Here is what I've discovered. Darren's funeral and cremation was held at Enfield Crematorium in Middlesex (now known as north London) on Monday, November 18th, 1991. The Funeral Director was J.J. Burgess and Sons, of Hatfield in Hertfordshire, However, Darren's ashes were not interred in the Garden of Remembrance at Enfield Crematorium, but, according to details in the records of J.J. Burgess and Sons, the ashes were taken away by the family with a certificate to an unknown location. They could have been either buried in a cemetery or scattered somewhere. If ANYBODY out there knows where Darren was laid to rest, please contact me on BRINKSWAY53 AT AOL DOT COM. Somebody out there MUST know the answer to this question. Many Thanks from David.

[DavidRayner1]

PLEASE NOTE: The above email address has now changed to DAVIDRAYNER553 AT BTINTERNET DOT COM

[Britmovie]

Hi on the new movie site www.britmovie.net www.britmovie.net/britforum we started a thread on DARREN BURN. Any info would be great. Dont confuse us with the other site!

[Britmovie]

Can you not dig out the death certificate and see if he was buried locally?

[DavidRayner]

Thanks for your reply. I do have a copy of Darren's death certificate, issued after the inquest in January, 1992, but death certificates do not include any funeral details. They never have.

[lewesian]

I worked with Darren as a Tape-Op at Roundhouse Recording Studios in the late 70s early 80s. He was not an engineer - just a mucked up, hyperactive intelligent kid working as a Tape-Op due to his father's contacts in the industry. I'd be happy to answer any questions the original poster of this thread would like to know.
David Kemp

[DavidRayner1]

Just to let everyone know that today, I was contacted by one of Darren's relatives and now know from him the location of Darren's last resting place. My thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread during the past three years.

[chrisfortyfive]

Darren had had a few setbacks even before the singing career. He had been the face of Heinz Baked Beans. Not a huge career but a household face and name. Unfortunately he lost that job to someone who went on to become hugely successful. It could of been a thorn in his side for the rest of his life.

In those days singing was not considered a long term career opportunity as it is now. So many people came and went. Child agencies would find work for children according to age and it is a small window of opportunity.

I'm sure if Darren had survived he would of found the modern computer networking an outlet for his talent.

[DavidRayner1]

Thanks for your comments, chrisfortyfive. I've tried to locate one of those Heinz Baked Beans commercials with Darren and also a colour film he made in 1970, when he was nine, entitled The Insomniac, but without success. I think that the turning point for Darren came in August, 1974, when Darren, just 13, was called into the office of a senior executive at EMI and quite bluntly told that his career was over and he wasn't wanted any more. Whatever went on in that office, Darren was very upset about it and went off the rails from that moment on. His father, Colin, who went on to hold the top job at EMI, passed away on October 19th, 2009, aged 76 and Darren's former producer at EMI, Eric Woolfson, passed away aged 64 on December 2nd, 2009. Yes, I'm sure that Darren, if he had lived, would have been amazed by the Internet and modern computer technology.