Now the legendary Les Dawson is to be celebrated at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with the premiere of a new play looking back at his life and career.

Impressionist Jon Culshaw will be portraying the late Dawson, one of his lifelong comedy heroes, as part of Assembly’s Fringe programme at George Square in August.

Culshaw, the actor and comic best known for Dead Ringers, has joined forces with writer Tim Whitnall and director Bob Golding to create the new show, Les Dawson: Flying High, which is billed as “hilarious yet humbling, heightened yet grounded and poignant yet ultimately uplifting.”

It will be partly inspired by the comic’s autobiography, which was published in 1992, the year before he died of a heart attack.Culshaw will be depicting Dawson months after playing Opportunity Knocks host Hughie Green in a new play about the late Scottish singer Lena Zavaroni, which was recently premiered in her home town of Greenock. His other dramatic performances have included depicting David Bowie for a radio play and Tony Blair in a film.

Culshaw said: “I’ve been a fan of Les all of my life, for as long as I can remember. I really enjoyed the effect that his programmes had on our house. I’ve got great memories of watching him with my mum, dad, brother and sister, and the laughter just filling the room.

“He is someone who has just always been with me in my heart and mind.

“Les said himself that good comedy came from within and that if it came from the heart it really meant something and people could relate to it.

Jon Culshaw will be portraying Les Dawson at this year's Fringe. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

“When I did the photoshoot for the Fringe show a few weeks ago, I don’t think I’ve ever been more comfortable in the guise of somebody else.”

Born in Manchester in 1932, Dawson suffered at the hands of bullies when he was at school, worked in the drapery department in his local Co-Op, had a spell as a newspaper reporter, was a trainee electrician and was a vacuum cleaner salesman.

However his skills as a pianist saw him get his first work as an entertainer in clubs in Manchester and Hull, before he made his TV debut in Opportunity Knocks in 1967, an appearance which paved the way for his own series in the sixties, seventies and eighties, when he also took over from Terry Wogan as the host of the game show Blankety Blank. Dawson was also a prolific writer, with more than a dozen books to his credit.

Culshaw said: “The show will be a real celebration of Les’s comedy, but also his skill, flair and talent as a writer, and how those two worlds came together.

Jon Culshaw will be portraying Les Dawson at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Impressionist Jon Culshaw on paying a heartfelt tribute to Les Dawson with his new Edinburgh Festival Fringe show