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Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Blair Ogus 12 December 1931, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a British actor, choreographer, tap dancer and television presenter. He is the son of Myer Ogus and Deborah (Della) Greenbaum (Mother's name given as Brenner on FreeBMD). His father was a Russian barber; he changed the family name to Blair in his youth. Blair came to Britain when he was one year old. His first public performances were with his sister Joyce (born 1932) in London Underground Station air raid shelters during World War II. He attended the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in 1944,... MORE

Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Blair Ogus 12 December 1931, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a British actor, choreographer, tap dancer and television presenter. He is the son of Myer Ogus and Deborah (Della) Greenbaum (Mother's name given as Brenner on FreeBMD). His father was a Russian barber; he changed the family name to Blair in his youth. Blair came to Britain when he was one year old. His first public performances were with his sister Joyce (born 1932) in London Underground Station air raid shelters during World War II. He attended the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in 1944, followed by London's West End. He gave up acting for dancing in 1947 although he subsequently appeared in the fringe production, "Out of the Blue" (Chichester) and "Who Killed Agatha' Christie" (national tour) amongst other acting credits. Blair's camp image came to the fore in the 1960s, when, with his dance troupe, he appeared on television variety programmes. He also appeared in films A Hard Day's Night and Absolute Beginners, cameoed in an episode of The Persuaders! and in television comedy, including the short film, The Plank. In addition, he choreographed films such as Jazz Boat (1960) and The LESS