Billy Dainty  William Hooper Frank John Dainty (22 February 1927 – 19 November 1986) was a British comedian, dancer, physical comedian and pantomime and television star. Dainty was born in Wolverhampton Street, Dudley, Worcestershire. His father kept a shop at the front of the family home. He made his stage debut as the only boy dancer in a troupe of girls. Later, his family moved to London, where he took tap-dancing lessons from the American-born hoofer Buddy Bradley. He then won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he trained as a comedian. From childhood he had the ambition to be a professional dancer, but he became well known for the funny walks which formed part of his well-loved comedy act. In 1942 at the age of 15, he made his stage debut in the pantomime "Mother Goose", starring Norman Evans and Patricia Burke, where he played the back end of a dancing pantomime donkey called "Asbestos". His next part was as a chorus boy in "Strike a New Note" at the Prince of Wales Theatre, with Sid Field and Jerry Desmonde, along with the newly formed pairing of Morecambe and Wise. Called up for national service in 1945, he toured the Far East with the "Stars in Battledress" for two years. His first work after the war was in a show called "Gaytime" in Torquay. He spent the next two decades in variety theatre, before getting his TV break on "Sunday Night at the London Palladium" in the late 1950s. After appearing in over a dozen pantomimes, often in unremarkable or unfulfilling roles, Dainty was finally persuaded, in 1964, to play the Pantomime dame opposite Harry Worth's Old King Cole at the Bristol Hippodrome, where he was hailed a huge success. He also played the dame at the London Palladium in "Dick Whittington" with the then rising star Tommy Steele. He was proclaimed as "one of the last of the genuine music-hall performers" and as "one of the outstanding artists of his generation". In 1975, he had his own Thames Television series "Billy Dainty, Esq". Between 1975 and 1980 he starred with Rod Hull and Emu, in "Emu's Broadcasting Company" on BBC1. Dainty also had a large following of radio listeners, who tuned-in to his shows, including "Stick a Geranium in Your Hat".