Sarah Cracknell is best known as the lead singer of Saint Etienne.
asserted
Cracknell → know → Etienne
Ahead, she discusses the important men in her life, including her father, who passed away at 54, husband and two adult sons.
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who → discuss → 54
I never met my paternal grandfather, Clarence Cracknell – apparently, he was a bit of a scoundrel.
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he → meet → scoundrel
He was always out gambling, drinking and womanising.
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He → gamble → ?
My dad, Derek, had very little respect for him and barely spoke about him.
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dad → have → him
My maternal grandfather, Edgar Samuel, was a barfly who everyone called Sam.
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everyone → call → who
My grandmother was the most amazing cook but he was barely home to eat.
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he → eat → ?
He was a real joker and we forgave him for his ways.
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we → forgave → ways
He used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day and lived into his 70s.
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He → use → 70s
Dad was in the army – the payroll guy who wanted to work in film.
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who → want → film
He ended up doing accounts on documentaries, then got a job as a third assistant and that’s how his career unfolded.
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career → end → assistant
Dad was Stanley Kubrick’s first assistant on 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, two of the most iconic films ever made.
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Dad → make → films
Stanley was tricky to work with, but my dad was a good mediator and brought great balance to his workplace.
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dad → work → workplace
Dad sadly died at the age of 54 from pancreatic cancer, just as I joined Saint Etienne, and never got to see what I did.
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I → die → what
She was 16 and Dad was 25 when they met on the set of a film called The Long Ships in what was then Yugoslavia.
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what → meet → film
Dad was engaged at the time, but they met and clicked.
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they → meet → time
Mum worked on three films with him and when she was 19, someone dared her to ask him out.
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someone → work → him
Everyone thought my dad was gay.
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dad → think → ?
They returned to England and Mum found out about the engagement.
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Mum → return → engagement
She gave him an ultimatum.
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She → give → ultimatum
My first kiss happened up the back of a school bus in primary school when I was about seven.
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I → happen → school
He broke my heart because, not that long after, I gave him a Valentine’s card and he ripped it up in front of the whole class.
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he → break → class
I was devastated.
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I → devastate → ?
I’ve had my heart broken and I’ve been the heartbreaker.
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I → have → ?
I ended up going out with a guy called Vince when I was 14 who looked a bit like him.
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who → end → him
I was quite a dater and had lots of boyfriends in my teens.
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I → have → teens
I’ve had my heart broken and I’ve been the heartbreaker.
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I → have → ?
My mum was devastated when I broke up with my boyfriend when I was 15.
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I → devastate → boyfriend
She really liked him and told me I was cruel.
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I → like → me
He ran away from home because it was all too much.
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it → run → home
My best friend Mick Bund and I met when we were 17 and 16, respectively.
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we → meet → ?
He became a bass player in one of my first bands and we hit it off like brother and sister.
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we → become → brother
We had a strong bond and shared a flat for seven years.
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We → have → years
Once, we pretended we were engaged to get a one-bedroom rental.
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we → pretend → rental
He’d had a crappy upbringing, which is why we bonded.
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we → have → upbringing
He got into alcohol and sadly died about eight years ago.
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He → get → alcohol
Related Article
My mum adored Mick and he lived with her for a while as well.
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he → adore → while
He had the biggest musical influence on me and I learnt how to write songs with him.
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I → have → him
We wrote a song called Marble Lions, which Saint Etienne did a version of.
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Etienne → write → version
There was one guy who broke my heart – his parents were posh and had sent him off to boarding school.
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parents → be → school
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
