Showbiz veteran Lionel Blair has died at the age of 92, his agent has told the PA news agency.
The seasoned performer was from the old school of variety shows and was capable of turning his hand to almost anything. Across his seven-decade career, he worked on television as an actor, tap dancer, presenter, and choreographer.
Blair died in the early hours on Thursday morning, his agent said.
In recent years, he made appearances on shows such as Celebrity Big Brother and The Real Marigold Hotel.
Blair always remained coy over his true age, saying famously on once occasion: “I am 59 plus VAT.”
Whatever the date, Blair was born in Canada before moving to Britain at the age of two.
He grew up in the Stamford Hill area of north London and was evacuated to Oxford when the war broke out, with his sister Joyce and mother Deborah.
The family returned to London after witnessing a German plane crash. The event prompted his father, Myer, to call them back to the capital.
“If that can happen there, what’s the point of being in the country away from each other?” Blair said his father told him.
The young Blair got his first taste of showbiz by watching the likes of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Shirley Temple at the cinema.
Blair was 13 when his father died after going in for surgery. “It changed everything,” Blair said. “It was the first time I’d ever thought, ‘I’m never going to see him again.’ It was so awful and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a loss like it.”
The entertainer said he had to grow up “artificially fast” following the death of his father.
He began making a name for himself as an actor in the fifties and sixties.
In the West End, he played the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium, and had roles in Lady Be Good, Mr Cinders, and Pageant.
He choreographed and appeared in TV shows featuring stars such as Anthony Newley, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and Liza Minnelli, as well as a Royal Variety performance with Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr.
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The pair later became good friends and Blair selected the singer for an episode of Great Lives on BBC Radio Four in 2010.
Blair also appeared in the Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night as a choreographer. However, he is best known for being captain of the men’s team on Give Us A Clue, the ITV game show.
He reprised the role in a 2011 Comic Relief special and was back on screens for Celebrity Big Brother in 2014. He spent 15 days in the house, exiting third after boxer Evander Holyfield and model Jasmine Waltz.
In 2017, he was one of the celebrities appearing in the BBC reality series The Real Marigold Hotel.
Blair married his wife Susan Blair in March 1967 and once said the secret to a successful marriage is memories.
The couple had three children and three grandchildren.
PA contributed to this report
