Dorita y Pepe were the stage names of British musicians Dorothy and Peter Sensier. They made many appearances as a duo on British television in the late 1950s and 1960s, performing Spanish and Latin American folk music, and released several albums. Peter Sensier was also known as a guitar maker, writer and radio broadcaster.
Biography Peter Sensier (20 January 1918 – 24 September 1977) IMdB.com. Retrieved 03 December 2023 was a Brentford-born musician who played guitar in jazz and swing bands, and became a friend of bandleader Edmundo Ros. He and Essex-born Joyce Dorothy Hamberger (26 September 1923 – December 2003) Dorothy Sensier, IMdB.com. Retrieved 15 April 2019 married in London in 1948. Peter Sensier was an accomplished classical and Spanish guitar player, and shared with his wife a love of Latin American music. They began performing as a duo in London clubs in the mid-1950s. Sleeve notes to Dorita y Pepe, Saga Records, 1960. Retrieved 15 April 2019 By 1957, they had begun recording together as Dorita y Pepe, featuring on the EP Ken Sykora's Guitar Club Vol.2. She sang and played rhythm guitar. "Ken Sykora Guitar Club Vol.2", 45cat.com. Retrieved 15 April 2019
The couple divorced in 1957 but maintained their professional relationship. Their first LP, Dorita y Pepe, was released on the Columbia label in 1961. They toured often in South America, and became popular there. They also performed in Russia, China, and elsewhere, "...a couple who are so much at home down South America way", undated newspaper article, c.1960s, Ken Sykora's Archive. Retrieved 15 April 2019 and their music featured in the film Guns of Darkness (1962). They appeared regularly on BBC radio, in programmes including Guitar Club. In 1962-63, they featured in their own ITV television series, Their Kind of Music, "Their Kind of Music", IMdB.com. Retrieved 15 April 2019 and appeared many times during the 1960s on The Benny Hill Show. Robert Ross, Benny Hill - Merry Master of Mirth: the Complete Companion, Pavilion Books, 2014 The duo's later albums included Viva Dorita y Pepe! (1964), En Buenos Aires (1965), and Latin American Folk (1968). Dorita y Pepe, Discogs.com. Retrieved 15 April 2019
Peter Sensier was also known as a maker of guitars, vihuelas, charangos, tiples and other exotic instruments. Under his real name, he wrote articles for the BMG (Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar) magazine, and presented programmes on BBC Radio in the 1960s and 1970s, including a regular monthly programme, The Classical Guitar. Colin Cooper, "Peter Sensier remembered for many things", Creative Guitar International vol.5, 1977
After her divorce from Peter Sensier, Dorothy was married to Philip Beck from 1958 until her death. Peter's first marriage, from 1939 to 1948, was to Lily Lewis.
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