Stage legend Danny La Rue dies aged 81
ENTERTAINER Danny La Rue has died after a short illness, aged 81.
The legendary female impersonator, famed for his music hall and pantomime drag acts, had been suffering from cancer.
His spokeswoman said: “Danny died peacefully in his sleep just before midnight last night after a short illness.
“His beloved companion Annie Galbraith was with him at their home in Kent.”
La Rue, who hated the term 'cross dresser' and preferred 'comic in a frock', enjoyed a glittering career spanning 60 years.
Brian Shaw, who worked as La Rue’s agent for more than 25 years, today described him as “a true showbusiness legend”.
He said: “He was a man of real class and real style. It’s just a very sad day.
“He was an absolutely sensational guy. He did over 1,000 live theatre shows in the UK for me.
“I think he knew absolutely everyone. Everyone certainly knew who Danny La Rue was.”
Once described by Noel Coward as “the most utterly charming man in the business,” he was famed for his performances as glamorous leading ladies like Marlene Dietrich and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
La Rue was born Daniel Patrick Carroll in Cork, Ireland on July 26, 1927, the youngest in a family of five.
His father Tom, a soldier in the Irish Republican Army and cabinet maker, died when he was just 18-months-old.
He was a man of real class and real style. It’s just a very sad day.
His mother took the family to London when he was 9-years-old, where they lived in a flat above a dress-hire shop in Soho.
Years later, La Rue joked to an audience at a show in Cork: “See what they did to me in England.
“I left in short pants and I’ve come back in a frock.”
La Rue was evacuated to Devon during the Blitz, left school at 15 and got a job as a window dresser at a shop in Exeter.
He first donned his wig and eyelashes during a Navy concert party in Singapore at the end of the Second World War.
TODAY'S TOP ENTERTAINMENT STORIES:
BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT WINNERS DIVERSITY - FIND OUT MORE!
SUSAN BOYLE ADMITTED TO THE PRIORY AFTER BACKSTAGE OUTBURST
BRUNO DROPS IN ON EMINEM AT MTV AWARDS
Advised by his good friend entertainer Harry Secombe to forget fame and fortune, Daniel Carroll had the chance to fill in for a singer at London’s Irving Theatre.
La Rue said: “I wanted to call myself Danny Street so Harry Secombe wouldn’t know I’d gone back to the stage. But there was already a singer called Danny Street, so I became Danny La Rue."
The entertainer was snapped up as a West End cabaret star at London’s Churchill’s nightclub, followed by Winston’s Club, where he starred alongside Barbara Windsor.
As La Rue’s name became bigger than that of his venues, he opened his own nightclub in Hanover Square in 1964, attracting well over 13,000 members. Celebrity patrons included Judy Garland, Warren Beatty, Shirley Bassey, Noel Coward, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Dame Elizabeth Taylor.
The star appeared in dozens of TV shows, including The Good Old Days, Tonight with Danny La Rue and Royal Variety Performances.
His pantomime career began in the 1960s, making La Rue one of Britain’s most established panto dames.
La Rue made theatrical history by being the first man to play a female role in a major musical when he took on the part of Dolly in Hello Dolly! and he later became the first female impersonator to appear at the Royal Variety Performance before the Queen.
The star, who performed everywhere from Canada to the Middle East, became a millionaire at the peak of his career but would later lose his fortune in a property deal.
