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Lionel Blair

The night I danced with Sammy Davis Jr

December 9, 2009 15:25
Lionel Blair with his sister Joyce and his great friend Sammy Davis Jr in the 1960s.

By

John Nathan,

John Nathan

5 min read

There was a time when Lionel Blair was so famous you could be forgiven for forgetting what he was famous for.

In the 1980s he was best known as the captain, no less, of the men’s team on that cosiest of television parlour games, Give Us A Clue.

To most viewers he was a celebrity who danced a bit — as opposed to a celebrity dancer — and to most TV producers, the embodiment of light entertainment, a composite of blinding smile, awe-inspiring hair and swivelling hips.

But turn back the clock another 20 years, to the Royal Variety Command Performance of 1961 to be exact, and you would discover or rediscover the original Lionel.