Tommy Steele, the song and dance man with a soft spot for Sunderland

He was the song and dance man who always had a soft spot for Sunderland.

But how many of you got to see the legendary Tommy Steele on one of his stage appearances on Wearside which spanned 60 years of his career.

First on stage in 1956

Tommy made his professional stage debut at Sunderland Empire in November 1956.

He headed the bill in a variety show and told the Echo in 2016: “I was a 19-year-old walking out with my guitar.”

He was back in 1961 with a twice nightly show which also featured The Viscounts.

Tickets cost as little as one and six.

Some Like It Hot

In 1992, he was back again to star in Some Like It Hot, which was his version of the Billy Wilder film starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.

Tommy directed a company of 56 actors, musicians and dancers in one of the most lavish musicals which had ever been taken on tour.

And he was back in 1993, in the dressing room he used for his first ever appearance decades earlier.

Starring in The Glenn Miller Story

He was back in Sunderland yet again in 2016 to star in The Glenn Miller Story, a musical about the band leader who vanished over the English Channel, as he flew to Paris to entertain the troops during the Second World War.

He praised the Wearside crowds and said: “It’s wonderful every time I come here.”

His career included than 20 hit singles, 12 hit movies and countless award-winning stage musicals such as Half a Sixpence, Hans Andersen and Singin’ in the Rain. But he has never forgotten the Wearside audiences who loved him so much.

Tell us if you saw him on stage by emailing [email protected]