Entertainer Lionel Blair, who taught himself to dance by watching Fred Astaire movies and became a staple on British stage and television for decades, has died. He was 92.
Blair was born Lionel Henry Ogus in Montreal to Russian Jewish parents. The family moved to Britain when he was a toddler and settled in London, where he and his sister Joyce performed for people sheltering in subway stations during World War II bombing raids.
"I really wanted to be an actor," he said in 2014. "I was the breadwinner after my father died when we were quite young, and I got into a musical, became well-known and stayed in musicals. But really I want to be in `EastEnders."' He performed as a dancer, worked as a choreographer for television shows and during the 1960s, 70s and 80s was an increasingly prominent presence on TV variety and game shows. He was a panelist on charades-based game show "Give Us a Clue" and a presenter on the U.K. version of "Name That Tune."
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