Career
Blair came to the fore in the 1960s, when, with his dance troupe, he appeared on television variety programmes. He also appeared in the 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 Magic Christian (1969).
Blair is known for being one of the team captains on the gameshow Give Us a Clue from 1979 until the early 1990s and for being the second presenter of the British version of Name That Tune in the 1980s.
For six years, Blair was a team captain on the BBC2 daytime news based quiz Today's the Day. In 2005, he was one of the celebrities taking part in the Channel Five reality series, The Farm. Blair appeared 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 alongside Lisa Scott-Lee and X Factor contestant Chico. In July 2010, Blair appeared in the "Great British Dog Walks" feature on ITV1's This Morning with his dog Lola. Also in 2010, 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 BBC1's The One Ronnie. Blair also appeared as the celebrity darter for charity on Bullseye.
On December 24, 2011 (Christmas Eve), he appeared on the ITV program Text Santa with Ant & Dec.
In 2012, he was cast in the film version of Ray Cooney's farce Run For Your Wife.
Read more about this topic: Lionel Blair
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“John Brown’s career for the last six weeks of his life was meteor-like, flashing through the darkness in which we live. I know of nothing so miraculous in our history.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“From a hasty glance through the various tests I figure it out that I would be classified in Group B, indicating “Low Average Ability,” reserved usually for those just learning to speak the English Language and preparing for a career of holding a spike while another man hits it.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)