Lionel Blair Biography – Lionel Blair Wiki
Lionel Blair born Henry Lionel Ogus was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. He made constant appearances as a dancer and entertainer on British television throughout the late 1960s, the 1970s and early 1980s, he also presented the quiz programme Name That Tune, and was a team captain on Give Us a Clue.
He debuted with his late sister Joyce in the Manor House Underground 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 they returned to Stamford Hill after seeing a German plane crash. Blair 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.
Later, he rekindled his passion for musical theatre and started working in the West End. He gave up acting for dancing in 1947, although he subsequently featured in the fringe production Out of the Blue (Chichester) and Who Killed Agatha Christie (national tour) among other acting credits. 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).
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, The World of Suzie Wong, The Cool Mikado, The Beauty Jungle, A Hard Day’s Night, Maroc 7 and Absolute Beginners, cameoed in an episode of The Persuaders!, and appeared in television comedy, including the short film, The Plank. Additionally, 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 Tunes in the 1980s. In 1983, he appeared as the celebrity darter for charity on Bullseye. He published his autobiography Stagestruck in 1986. 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 1988, he featured in aid of charity on the British television game show Catchphrase, hosted by Irish comedian Roy Walker. Other celebrities also appeared alongside Blair, with big names at the time including radio DJ Chris Tarrant. In 1993, Blair appeared as himself in an episode of Birds of a Feather. 1997 saw him make a surprise appearance on the Sky One lifestyle programme 1 to 3, to surprise a Bradford-based guitar duo who’d named themselves The Lionel Blairs after the entertainer. He took part in the 2007 Christmas special of the Ricky Gervais show Extras, as himself, portraying the end-stages of his showbiz career by trying to keep up his profile by appearing on Celebrity Big Brother.
In 2009, twenty-one years after Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas” was first released, Blair starred in an original video for the song that was made in aid of Shelter. All proceeds from the digital download were donated to the charity. In July 2010, he appeared in the “Great British Dog Walks” feature on ITV’s This Morning with his dog Lola. The same year, he took part in the BBC’s The Young Ones, in which six celebrities in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s.
In December 2010, he appeared briefly in a sketch with Ronnie Corbett and Rob Brydon in BBC One’s The One Ronnie. On 24 December 2011, he appeared on the ITV programme Text Santa with Ant & Dec. In 2012, he was cast in the film version of Ray Cooney’s farce Run for Your Wife. On 3 January 2014, he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house with Made in Chelsea media personality Ollie Locke, after being handcuffed together as part of a task set by Big Brother. He became the third housemate to be evicted on January 17, 2014. Blair 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 December 14, 2016, 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, Blair 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”, a song written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was recorded in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital and was released digitally on independent record label Saga Entertainment on 30 November 2018 under the artist name The Celebs. The music video debuted exclusively with The Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on Good Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. Blair appeared on Loose Women on 13 December to help promote the single and celebrate his 90th Birthday. The song peaked at number two on the iTunes pop chart.
In 2019, he received the honour of being named ‘Oldie of the Year’ at the annual awards promoted by The Oldie magazine. Blair, and his incorrectly assumed homosexuality, was a recurring joke on the long-running BBC Radio 4 series I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. He was educated at Craven Park school – where he first met his lifelong friends Mike and Bernie Winters, the comedians – and Egerton Road school, connected to a synagogue.
Lionel Blair Age
He was born on December 12, 1928, in Montreal, Canada and died on November 4, 2021. He was 92 years.
Lionel Blair Wife
He married his wife, Susan Davis at Kensington Register Office on March 21, 1967, with Bernie Winters as his best man. They had three children and three grandchildren and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in March 2017.
Lionel Blair Children
He is survived by his wife and three children, their daughter, Lucy, two sons, David and Matthew, and three grandchildren.
Lionel Blair Family
He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His parents were Jewish. His father, Myer Ogus was a barber and his mother Debora “Della” Greenbaum was a tailor. His father emigrated from Russia to Canada to begin a new life and his wife joined him shortly afterwards.
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. When Blair was thirteen, his father died. His elder sister, Joyce, a well-known performer in her own right, died in 2006.
Lionel Blair Net Worth
According to CelebrityNetWorth, his net worth is estimated to be around £2.96 million.
Lionel Blair Death
Blair died on the morning of November 4, 2021, at the age of 92. His agent announced the news of his demise. According to the agent, he died peacefully early morning. No cause of death has been revealed.
Tributes poured in from UK stars such as Stephen Graham and Eddie Marsan for the entertainer, who made his name as team captain on ITV game show Give Us A Clue and in later years appeared in Ricky Gervais’ Extras.
“RIP you, absolute showbiz god,” said Graham – Christmas Carol star on Twitter.
Lionel Blair Cause of Death
He died on November 4, 2021, at the age of 92.No cause of death has been revealed.
