Tallest ten-time Tony winner taps

"My idea of gambling was walking through Central Park, whistling show tunes."

"As a joke I often say that I am 5'18½" tall."

The very lovely dancing legend Mr Tommy Tune - possessor of the longest (ahem) legs in the business; they go all the way up, apparently - was (remarkably) 80 years old last week! As a young man, he was quite the stylish (and sexy) young thing...

On his experience at his very first Tony Awards ceremony in 1974: "...we were told to only come to the show with a girl on our arm. And my partner at the time had been so supportive that I just went, 'This is not right.' So I defied the law. And we came together and they put him on one side of the post in the last seat of the Shubert Theatre and I was on the other side, so you couldn't tell the two boys were together.... Then when they said 'The nominees are...' and the picture would come on of one nominee and then another and when they said 'Tommy Tune for Seesaw.' They didn't put the camera on me because of my date. So, that was interesting. And I've never forgotten that because now it's... life is so much freer."

Although he has been tappin' his tits off on stage since 1965, it was for his film appearance alongside Dame Twiggy in The Boy Friend in 1971 that he is indelibly remembered - see here for a performance of one of their numbers.



Facts:

• Mr Tune won nine actor, choreography and directing Tony Awards, and gained the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015; he was also awarded the US National Medal of Arts, and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• His dance tutor when he was learning his art was Patrick's mother Patsy Swayze.
• He once worked as assistant choreographer on TV's The Dean Martin Show.
• He's a fan of Christine Ebersole, Antonio Carlos Jobim and - erm - professional wrestling!
• He was still on tour across the US of A even last year (some shows in partnership with fellow veteran hoofer Chita Rivera, some solo).

Here are those legs in full swing...

Tommy Tune - Puttin' on the Ritz

...and here he is with the much-missed Carol Channing, his lifetime friend and mentor:

Carol Channing and Tommy Tune - That's How Young I Feel

Many happy returns, Thomas James "Tommy" Tune (born 28th February 1939)