Biography

Television pianist who had number 1 UK hits with "Side Saddle" and "Roulette" both in 1959, followed by some lesser hits in the early 60s, but continued his success right into the '70s, especially on television.

His trademark percussive style of playing was a result of losing the tip of one of his fingers in an accident with a bread slicer while he was serving in the Royal Navy during World War II.

Suffered from severe stage fright early in his career.

In 1958 Conway (as "Trevor H. Stanford") composed, with Norman Newell, the music for the flop musical Mister Venus, which starred Frankie Howerd and Anton Diffring, The show, with book by Ray Galton and Johnny Speight, opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 23 October 1958 but closed after just sixteen performances.

In the documentary Frankie Howerd: The Lost Tapes, Barry Cryer, commenting on Howerd not coming out as gay, also said that Russ Conway did not, as in 'those days' it would have been career suicide.