In May 2012, O'Connor replaced Russell Grant in the West End musical, The Wizard of Oz, at the London Palladium, as Professor Marvel, Doorman at the Emerald City, Tour Guide, and The Wizard. [7]

Bing Crosby with The Music Maids and Hal and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra REL, Bing Crosby BRD, Richard Himber and His Ritz-Carlton Orchestra - Vocal Refrain by Joey Nash, Dorothy Squires with Orchestra conducted by Billy Reid, Gene Autry and The Pinafores with Orchestral Acc.Peggy Lee with Dave Barbour and His Orchestra REC, Frank Sinatra – Orchestra under the direction of Axel Stordahl REL

a b c d " 'Ultimate entertainer' Des O'Connor dies aged 88". BBC News . Retrieved 15 November 2020. O'Connor appeared as a guest on The Morecambe and Wise Show a number of times. He was the butt of many a joke by Eric Morecambe, being referred to as "Des – short for 'desperate", and "Death O'Connor". [11] One line, sung to the tune of "Crazy Words – Crazy Tune" was, "Roses are red, violets are blue, Des can't sing, we know that's true!". (O'Connor was actually an old friend of the duo, and even participated in writing many of the "put-downs".) In late 2011, O'Connor starred in Dreamboats and Petticoats at the Playhouse Theatre. [ citation needed] Les Reed was in Wessex Studios and had just finished a session with Quincy Jones when he met O'Connor coming into the studio to record a jingle. O'Connor asked Reed and Barry Mason write a song for him, which the duo complied and wrote "I Pretend" in an hour. They gave the song to O'Connor, who then asked Geoff Love to arrange the song so he could record it in two days' time. [6]

Popular performances

a b Jeffries, Stuart (15 November 2020). "Des O'Connor obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 16 November 2020.

I was dubbed a Casanova but I’d only been out with three girls in my life and I married them all,” he told an interviewer in 1996. Not quite. Among the women he dated was the singer Shirley Bassey, whom he took on a boating lake in Leeds and to the pictures in the early 1960s. Years later he asked her what she had thought of the experience. “I thought you were gay,” she replied. Between 1963 and 1971 O'Connor hosted The Des O'Connor Show, a British variety show, for eight series on ITV. This was followed by Des O'Connor Entertains, a show which ran for two series between 1974 and 1976 and featured singing, dancing, and comedy sketches. In 1969, thirteen editions of the show were sold to NBC in the United States, as a summer replacement for the network's Kraft Music Hall. The series was broadcast in more than forty countries. [ citation needed] Roy Sone, Marti Webb and The Rita Williams Chorus with The New World Theatre Orchestra conducted by Cyril Stapleton The active participation of the target helped somewhat to neutralise the cruelty, and, suggesting to the audience that he was a sport, further enhanced O’Connor’s reputation as a nice guy. Despite being presented on Morecambe & Wise, to up to 30 million viewers, as a tuneless loser, O’Connor by 1969 was celebrated enough to be a guest on ITV’s top-rating biographical entertainment show, This is Your Life.O'Connor was the first subject of the second incarnation of the long-running television programme This Is Your Life, when the show returned to screens after a five-year absence, produced by Thames Television. He was surprised live on the stage of the London Palladium by Eamonn Andrews in November 1969. [4]

Happy Holiday / Winter Wonderland / Snowy White Snow and Jingle Bells / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reind… He ascribed his longevity to moderation, a trait he shared with his friend Cliff Richard: “Cliff and I have discussed this. We both eat only one meal a day. I drink very little alcohol; I’ve never smoked and I don’t exercise madly; just a brisk half-hour walk five times a week.”Adele Dixon, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers BRD, Eddy Duchin and His Orchestra - Vocal Refrain by Lew Sherwood REC Between 1977 and 2002, O'Connor presented his own chat show series entitled Des O'Connor Tonight which lasted for seven series on BBC Two and later seventeen on ITV. In 2001, O'Connor was presented with the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards for his contribution to television. a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.403. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.