Web Page 3044 17th February 2023 Lionel Blair First Picture: Publicity Picture

Second Picture: Lionel and his wife

Third Picture: Lionel in his early tv days

Forth Picture: Wedding picture with Bernie Winters

Lionel Blair was born Henry Lionel Ogus on12th December 1928 and was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a dancer and entertainer on British television. He also presented the quiz programme Name That Tune, and was a team captain on the televised charades gameshow Give Us a Clue. Henry Lionel Ogus was born in Montreal to Jewish parents, Myer Ogus and Debora "Della" Greenbaum. His father, a barber, emigrated from Russia to Canada to start a new life, and his wife joined him shortly afterwards. Lionel Blair came to Britain when he was two years old, and the family settled at Stamford Hill in north London, where his father continued to work as a barber. Although his parents were Jewish they were not orthodox; they would eat chicken on a Friday night, but also ate bacon. Due to the anti-semitism of the time, his father changed the family name to Blair. Lionel’s first public performances were with his sister Joyce (1932–2006) in the Manor House station air raid shelters and on the trains of the Piccadilly line during the air raids of the Second World War. During the Blitz, mother and children were evacuated to Oxford, but when they saw a German plane crash from the back garden, the family decided they might as well be in London. When Blair was thirteen, his father died after what should have been a routine operation on an ulcer. After this, Blair became the breadwinner for the family and took to the stage. He started out with girlish parts, as his voice had not yet broken. He was singled out in several reviews for his performance as one of the children in a touring performance of the play Watch on the Rhine during 1943, and attended the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in 1944. In 1946, he joined a touring company called the Savoy Players. He rekindled his passion for musical theatre and began working in the West End. He gave up acting for dancing in 1947, although he subsequently appeared in a national tour of Who Killed Agatha Christie. He took his stage name around this time later changing it by deed poll just before he married in 1967; his sister also decided to use the same surname professionally Before his break into television, he had played the juvenile lead in The Five Past Eight Show at the Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow, where he played straight man to many Scottish comedians, including Jimmy Logan. By the mid-1950s he was choreographing shows at the Alhambra which were considered stylish and were hugely popular. He came to the fore in the 1960s when, with his dance troupe, he appeared on television variety programmes. He also appeared in the films The Limping Man (1953), The World of Suzie Wong (1960), The Cool Mikado (1963), The Beauty Jungle (1964), A Hard Day's Night (1964), Maroc 7 (1967) and Absolute Beginners (1986), cameoed in an episode of The Persuaders!, and appeared in television comedy, including the short film, The Plank. In addition, he choreographed films such as Jazz Boat (1960), in which he made an uncredited appearance, and The Magic Christian (1969). He appeared in Miss World 1969 and 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was one of the team captains on the game show Give Us a Clue from 1979 until the early 1990s, and was the second presenter of the British version of Name That Tune in the 1980s. In 1980, he made a small contribution to the children's music album Captain Beaky and His Band. In 1983, he appeared as the celebrity dart player for charity on Bullseye. He published his autobiography Stagestruck in 1985. In 2005, he took part in the Channel Five reality series, The Farm. Until 2005, he appeared extensively in pantomime, for which he earned up to £15,000 a week. In 2003, he released his first full-length album as a singer, in a tribute to Fred Astaire titled Blair Sings Astaire. He continued to work as an actor, having filmed an episode of BBC One's medical soap opera Doctors in 2014. He appeared in the British short film Evil's Evil Cousin in 2016. On 14 December that year, he guested on the ITV panel show, Loose Women, to announce and celebrate his recent 88th birthday. The panellists presented him with a personalised cake. In 2017, He was one of the celebrities appearing in the second series of the BBC reality series The Real Marigold Hotel. In 2018, he joined 26 other celebrities at Metropolis Studios, to perform an original Christmas song called "Rock with Rudolph. The song was recorded in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital In 2019, he was named "Oldie of the Year" at the annual awards promoted by The Oldie magazine. He always found working on pantomime particularly lucrative and reported that he could earn £100,000 for a six-week run. He married Susan Davis at Kensington Register Office on 21 March 1967, with Bernie Winters as best man. They had three children and three grandchildren and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on 21 March 2017. The couple lived in Banstead, Surrey. On 21 September 2006, he and comedian Alan Carr helped save a man about to fall from a pier in Blackpool. The man was holding on by his fingers.[36] Lionel Blair died on the morning of 4 November 2021, at the age of 92. Stay in Touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com Forth Picture: Wedding picture with Bernie Winters Lionel Blair was born Henry Lionel Ogus on12th December 1928 and was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a dancer and entertainer on British television. He also presented the quiz programme Name That Tune, and was a team captain on the televised charades gameshow Give Us a Clue. Henry Lionel Ogus was born in Montreal to Jewish parents, Myer Ogus and Debora "Della" Greenbaum. His father, a barber, emigrated from Russia to Canada to start a new life, and his wife joined him shortly afterwards. Lionel Blair came to Britain when he was two years old, and the family settled at Stamford Hill in north London, where his father continued to work as a barber. Although his parents were Jewish they were not orthodox; they would eat chicken on a Friday night, but also ate bacon. Due to the anti-semitism of the time, his father changed the family name to Blair. Lionel’s first public performances were with his sister Joyce (1932–2006) in the Manor House station air raid shelters and on the trains of the Piccadilly line during the air raids of the Second World War. During the Blitz, mother and children were evacuated to Oxford, but when they saw a German plane crash from the back garden, the family decided they might as well be in London. When Blair was thirteen, his father died after what should have been a routine operation on an ulcer. After this, Blair became the breadwinner for the family and took to the stage. He started out with girlish parts, as his voice had not yet broken. He was singled out in several reviews for his performance as one of the children in a touring performance of the play Watch on the Rhine during 1943, and attended the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in 1944. In 1946, he joined a touring company called the Savoy Players. He rekindled his passion for musical theatre and began working in the West End. He gave up acting for dancing in 1947, although he subsequently appeared in a national tour of Who Killed Agatha Christie. He took his stage name around this time later changing it by deed poll just before he married in 1967; his sister also decided to use the same surname professionally Before his break into television, he had played the juvenile lead in The Five Past Eight Show at the Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow, where he played straight man to many Scottish comedians, including Jimmy Logan. By the mid-1950s he was choreographing shows at the Alhambra which were considered stylish and were hugely popular. He came to the fore in the 1960s when, with his dance troupe, he appeared on television variety programmes. He also appeared in the films The Limping Man (1953), The World of Suzie Wong (1960), The Cool Mikado (1963), The Beauty Jungle (1964), A Hard Day's Night (1964), Maroc 7 (1967) and Absolute Beginners (1986), cameoed in an episode of The Persuaders!, and appeared in television comedy, including the short film, The Plank. In addition, he choreographed films such as Jazz Boat (1960), in which he made an uncredited appearance, and The Magic Christian (1969). He appeared in Miss World 1969 and 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was one of the team captains on the game show Give Us a Clue from 1979 until the early 1990s, and was the second presenter of the British version of Name That Tune in the 1980s. In 1980, he made a small contribution to the children's music album Captain Beaky and His Band. In 1983, he appeared as the celebrity dart player for charity on Bullseye. He published his autobiography Stagestruck in 1985. In 2005, he took part in the Channel Five reality series, The Farm. Until 2005, he appeared extensively in pantomime, for which he earned up to £15,000 a week. In 2003, he released his first full-length album as a singer, in a tribute to Fred Astaire titled Blair Sings Astaire. He continued to work as an actor, having filmed an episode of BBC One's medical soap opera Doctors in 2014. He appeared in the British short film Evil's Evil Cousin in 2016. On 14 December that year, he guested on the ITV panel show, Loose Women, to announce and celebrate his recent 88th birthday. The panellists presented him with a personalised cake. In 2017, He was one of the celebrities appearing in the second series of the BBC reality series The Real Marigold Hotel. In 2018, he joined 26 other celebrities at Metropolis Studios, to perform an original Christmas song called "Rock with Rudolph. The song was recorded in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital In 2019, he was named "Oldie of the Year" at the annual awards promoted by The Oldie magazine. He always found working on pantomime particularly lucrative and reported that he could earn £100,000 for a six-week run. He married Susan Davis at Kensington Register Office on 21 March 1967, with Bernie Winters as best man. They had three children and three grandchildren and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on 21 March 2017. The couple lived in Banstead, Surrey. On 21 September 2006, he and comedian Alan Carr helped save a man about to fall from a pier in Blackpool. The man was holding on by his fingers.[36] Lionel Blair died on the morning of 4 November 2021, at the age of 92. Stay in Touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com