Danny La Rue's sequined frocks and costumes for sale
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<H1>Danny La Rue's sequined frocks and costumes for sale </H1></DIV></TD></TR>
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<DIV><IMG border=0 hspace=0 alt="Danny La Rue in a 1969 BBC television play" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47390000/jpg/_47390484_la-rue-bw-bbc.jpg" width=226 height=282>
<DIV class=cap>Danny La Rue was the first drag act in the Royal Variety Performance</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=first><B>Sequined gowns and pantomime classics worn by the late entertainer Danny La Rue are to be auctioned in March.</B>
<P>They include outfits worn in the West End hit Hello Dolly! and glamorous frocks he wore impersonating Zsa Zsa Gabor, Tina Turner, and Dolly Parton. </P>
<P>The costumes and other memorabilia from La Rue's 60-year career will be sold at Brick Lane Music Hall in London. </P>
<P>The Irish-born star, who was once Britain's best known drag act, died last May at the age of 81. </P><!-- E SF -->
<P>The costumes are being sold by Annie Galbraith, the entertainer's long-time friend and companion towards the end of his life. </P>
<P><B>Comic in a frock</B></P>
<P>Four have already been bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum, two of which will be on permanent display. </P>
<P>Another pair will be featured in a forthcoming exhibition of pantomime costumes at the Museum of Childhood. </P>
<P>During the 1960s and 70s, La Rue was one of the highest paid stars on television as well as carving out a successful career on the stage and in cabaret. </P>
<P>He was born Daniel Patrick Carroll, in Cork in 1927 and moved to London with his family when he was nine. </P>
<P>La Rue moved into show business after leaving the navy and made his West End debut in the mid-50s. </P>
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<DIV><IMG border=0 hspace=0 alt="Danny La Rue in drag" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47389000/jpg/_47389968_la-rue-pa.jpg" width=226 height=170>
<DIV class=cap>Danny La Rue wearing his "Mae West" dress at the Brick Lane Music Hall</DIV>
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<P>In 1969, he became the first drag act to feature in the Royal Variety Performance, the first of three such appearances. </P>
<P>He also became the first man to appear as a female character in a major musical when he took the role of Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly! in a 1982 production which eventually transferred to the West End. </P>
<P>He became a regular in pantomime and in summer shows around the country leading one critic to describe him as "a national monument". </P>
<P>He continued working almost to the end with appearances in a biographical revue in Spain at the age of 79 and the Brick Lane Music Hall in 2007. </P>
<P>Though he made his name as a drag performer, Danny La Rue always refused to be labelled as a female impersonator, once describing himself as "a comic in a frock". </P></DIV></DIV>