Tributes paid to acclaimed Sheffield club singer Roland Roy of double act Roy and Jackie Toaduff

Roland Roy, from Fir Vale, formed one half of the double act Roy and Jackie Toaduff, who performed to high society on the QE2 cruise ship and to troops around the world, from the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Indonesia.

Jackie Toaduff hailed his former stage partner as a natural entertainer and the 'nicest, kindest man on earth', following his death, aged 92.

Born Roy Howell on January 9, 1925, Roland began life as a tailor but it wasn't long before his rich baritone voice began earning him wider attention.

He won £1,000 on the 1950s TV programme Bid for Fame - a forerunner of talent shows like The X Factor - and soon had crowds queuing outside working men's clubs around South Yorkshire and beyond to watch him.

In 1958, he represented Sheffield in the Clubland Command Performance at Blackpool's Winter Gardens, where he met Jackie, a coal miner-turned-dancer from Durham with whom he struck up an instant rapport and formed a partnership which would endure for more than half a century.

As Jackie put it, 'he was a singer who could dance a bit, and I was a dancer who could sing a bit', and the combination proved a winning one, with the pair performing to audiences around the world.

Among the highlights, says Jackie, was bringing cheer to troops far from home, and performing together for some 20 years on the QE2.

They were reputedly the first act to get a standing ovation on the famous ocean liner, where Jackie jokes the seats were so plush some of the older passengers had trouble rising from them.

And it was there they earned the admiration of and struck up lasting friendships with a galaxy of stars, including dancing greats Ginger Rogers and Margot Fonteyn, and screen legends Barbara Stanwyck and James Cagney.

Perhaps the greatest acknowledgement of Roland's talent came when Oscar Hammerstein II's wife Dorothy heard him singing Ol' Man River on board and praised it as one of the finest renditions she had heard of the famed lyricist's work.

Jackie said: "Roland was the nicest, kindest man on earth, and everyone adored him. He was always immaculately dressed, never without a collar and tie, and he behaved without exception like a true gentleman.

"I couldn't have asked for a more talented entertainer or a better companion to perform alongside for all those years."

Roland was also a dedicated fundraiser, who contributed vast sums towards research into polio, cancer and Alzheimer's disease by performing free gigs twice a week and asking members of the audience to donate to his chosen charities.

He never married or had any children, with Jackie joking that their busy schedule meant there was never time for that.

Roland and Jackie teamed up with their manager Colin Edwardes to buy the Chantry Hotel in Dronfield during the 1970s, where the trio lived.

Declining health meant Roland spent his latter days at care homes in Sheffield and Dronfield, but Jackie said his old friend continued to sing every day until his death on December 28.

* Roland's funeral will take place at Dronfield Parish Church next Tuesday, January 16, at 11am, followed by his cremation at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium at 12.30pm. Anyone is welcome to attend.