Danny La Rue the grande dame of pantomime and West End stage. His fans have numbered the good and the great. Noel Coward described him as “the most professional and charming man in the business” and Bob Hope called him “the most glamorous woman in the world”.

Born Daniel Patrick Carroll in Cork, Ireland in 1927, Danny hit the big time in the mid-sixties. A major name, he was the man who, with an exagger-ated flutter of the eyelashes and a modest foam rubber bosom, became the biggest box office draw in the West End.

His risque material would seem tame by today’s standards but audiences then, as now, loved him. He walked the tightrope of glamour with the safety net of sending himself up all the time. He toured in the seventies, appearing in sell-out concert halls all over the world.

“It took me 20 years to make something that wasn’t acceptable, acceptable. I mean, it’s not funny just to put on a frock and a wig. It takes a lot of time to develop a character. But I suppose I must be doing something right otherwise I wouldn’t have lasted.” After 55 years on the stage, does it still feel the same? “Look,” he says, “when I go out on a stage, I always pretend it’s for the very first time.”

The transformation from male to glamorous female has to be one of the most difficult tasks for a makeup artist to create. So I couldn’t let the passing of England’s greatest drag queen go without posting a tribute to Mister Danny La Rue. Famous for his Music Hall style, something unique to the Brits. Danny had his own Night Club, constantly appeared on television, and even played Dolly Levi in the musical Hello Dolly!, the first time the role had been played by a man. “I’ve had a blessed life. I’ve made millions and I’ve lost millions. I’ve picked myself up and I’ve dusted myself down. And I’m still here.” God bless Danny La Rue, he would have been 82 this year. Wikipedia

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