Some define suave and debonair as sophisticated charm and elegance. My definition is George Hamilton. Hamilton’s classy, charm will sparkle as he performs with Christopher Sieber as the stars of the Fabulous Fox’s production of La Cage Aux Folles.

La Cage is a story of Georges, a Saint-Tropez nightclub owner (played by Hamilton) and his partner Albin (Christopher Sieber) who transforms himself into the nightclub’s glamorous star, Zaza. When Georges’ son arrives home with his fiancee’s parents the feather boas fly as the family faces the challenge of staying true to themselves.

When asked how Hamilton was adapting to the role of Georges he said, “It’s a challenging role for me. In many ways, I’m envious of Chris Siber playing Zaza because Albin is such a fabulous, flamboyant character. It’s seductive to want to be the farceur. Chris is good in this: he gets bored with doing the usual, so he will change things around in a scene. My job is to be organically anchored to this – I’ve got to direct traffic through this whole story. In the story, I’m torn between my son and Albin. If I’ve done my job correctly, the piece takes on a profundity that’s got to be there.”

Siber has played both lead roles in La Cage, having played Georges opposite Harvey Fierstein as Albin. As Hamilton explained, Sieber is the on-stage wife and he the husband, “ I think Chris is terrific and I love working with him. Every night, I bow to him.”

Hamilton, 72, seemingly has remained ageless whose debonair style is considered a standard for defining class and Hollywood glamor. So, what’s his secret to retain his signature style and charm? His suit; a tip he got from the late Hollywood legend Cary Grant.

“Cary said to me it’s all about the shoulders of your suit. If they’re e not made right, the rest doesn’t matter.”

Beyond a good suit - after five decades of working in films, TV and stage Hamilton admitted he never started out wanting to be an actor. He credits his success to finding his direction in life from advise he got from his father.

“Do what you want to do in life. Do what’s easiest for you, then work at it harder than anybody,” said Hamilton, noting that at first he didn’t understand his father’s meaning.

"I thought, what does that really mean? I was the school clown. I was able to make people laugh at things that others took seriously. The first play I did at school, I did just to get out of math class. I was playing a Russian student at Harvard. Well, I forgot my lines within two minutes, so I started pretending to speak Russian. Before I knew it, the audience was laughing and I got a standing ovation before the play was over.”

Hamilton came to Hollywood at the end of the studio era, which shaped such stars as Cary Grant and Judy Garland. Then, the studio would take someone and build them into somebody they weren’t.

“It wasn’t much different for me,” said Hamilton. “The studio said to me, we wanted you to go in this direction. I thought, this is great – wear an ascot, drive a Rolls, have some money in my pocket and date all the girls at the studio: this sounds good to me.”

Today Hamilton persona along with his distinguished career continues as he and his fellow La Cage cast members receive rave reviews with kudos coming from the Associated Press calling La Cage’s latest production, “Riotously funny,” and Variety calling it “Funny, heartwarming and terrific.”

La Cage Aux Folles, part of the U.S. Bank Broadway Series, opens January 3 with performances running Tuesdays through Saturday until January 15. Tickets are available at the Fox box office, online at metrotix.com and by phone at 314-534-1111.