PUT ME IN A SOAP!
Age is no barrier for the showman who tells Garry Bushell about his charity single
LIONEL BLAIR bursts into the restaurant flashing a smile that could defrost Iceland. But as we shake hands his face drops.
“I need to apologise to you, Garry,” he says solemnly. “The first time we met, 25 years ago, I lied about my age. Don’t take it personally, I lied to everyone back then! So now I have to confess, I’m 90 on Wednesday.”
He doesn’t look it. “I don’t feel it,” he says, the smile back on full beam. “I feel wonderful. It’s all about keeping your brain young. You don’t have to wear carpet slippers. The only thing that upsets me is my stomach.”
The veteran showman pats his waistcoat. “This isn’t fat,” he says. “I had prostate cancer in 2006 and the radiotherapy treatment that cured me distended my stomach. I can’t complain but I wish I could lose it.” He sighs. “And I wish I was working more. I feel underused. I want to be in a soap!”
Which one? “Any of them! Although our local is called The Woolpack so maybe Emmerdale. The trouble is my age, when I do TV now, they have to insure me and that makes me expensive to book. That’s why I don’t get as much work as I used to.”
If Lionel is despondent, it is only for a moment. He’s an upbeat, can-do person with enough golden memories to fill an autobiography the size of War And Peace. During our meal at his favourite Italian restaurant in Surrey, he opens his wallet and takes out a silver dollar. “Turn it over,” he beams. Inscribed on the reverse of the coin are the words: “To Lionel. Because I Dig You. Sammy Davis Jr.”
Britain’s Mr Showbiz tap-danced with Sammy at the Royal Command Performance. Name an entertainment giant and he’s worked with them: Peter Sellers, Bob Hope, Cyd Charisse, the Beatles. He taught Yul Brynner how to dance. And more recently he was handcuffed to Ollie Locke on Celebrity Big Brother (OK, maybe the last one isn’t such an entertainment giant). Lionel is now involved in the new charity single for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Out now, Rock With Rudolph by The Celebs features Lionel with a host of TV faces from Anne “The Governess” Hegerty to EastEnders’ Shona McGarty and many more. Naturally Lionel shows off his tap-dancing moves in the video.
“It’s a great number in the grand old Christmas song spirit and it’s a wonderful cause.
He continues: “I never say no to work,” he says. “You never know where it might lead you.” For instance, in 1964 a dance he created for a Mike and Bernie Winters TV show indirectly led to him appearing in the Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night.
“I was a regular on Blackpool Night Out with my dancers and the producer asked me to invent a dance. I came up with The Kick.
“After the show went out, I had teachers all over the country asking if I could send them the steps! Then Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, got in touch and put on a national tour called The Kick with Cilla Black, Shirley Bassey and Billy J Kramer. And through Brian I got a part playing Dick the director in A Hard Day’s Night.”
Lionel’s performing career began in the London Blitz. “During air raids we used to go to Manor House underground station in north Hackney. And my sister Joyce and I used to entertain the people down there.
“We’d sing and dance, play the accordion. Other station managers heard about it and asked us to play their stations too. So my first ever tour was on the Piccadilly Line.
“I started dancing because I loved Fred Astaire. I never had lessons. I taught myself at home. But I had set my heart on acting. I was a boy actor. I did Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon.
“But my dad died when I was 15 and I became the breadwinner. I could make more money dancing. It was tough but I was working.”
He recalls earning £10 a week in a show called Bob’s Your Uncle: “It all went to my mother. I got 30 shillings [£1.50] pocket money.”
His eyes mist over as he recalls a bygone era. “When we were kids, the entertainers were giants,” he says. “Fred Astaire, Sinatra, Joan Crawford... It was a golden age.”
When I ask him who he rates of today’s stars, Lionel is equally positive. “I adore Jamie Cullum. Paloma Faith has a lovely voice.”
THE STAR was born Henry Lionel Ogus in 1928 in Montreal, Canada, after his Jewish parents fled the Soviet Union. Two years later, they emigrated to Stamford Hill, London, where his father Myer worked as a barber. More than 40 years later, Lionel went back to Canada with the gift of panto. “It went down a storm,” he recalls.
He married wife Susan 51 years ago. “As soon as I saw her, I said, ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry!’ She was 18 and he was in his 30s. Their eldest son is now 50.
The secret to long life is laughter and moderation, he says. “I drink but I’m never tipsy. I’ve never done drugs. My guilty pleasure used to be chocolate... but no more.”
Despite chatting for 90 minutes, we can only touch on his extraordinary career, including his work with Kenny Everett (“Cleo Rocos used to whip me!”).
“It’s all experience. Life’s rich pattern. I never regret anything. I’ve got a wonderful wife, children and grandchildren. I live in the greatest country in the world, and I’m still having a whale of a time.
“I am 90 and I don’t give a **** !”
Rock With Rudolph by The Celebs for Great Ormond Street Hospital is out now. To donate to its Christmas Stocking Appeal go to gosh.org/stockingappeal