‘Little’ no more, Jimmy Osmond has grown into an all-round performer who has now claimed Chicago as his own, reports Charles Hutchinson.

JIMMY will forever be the youngest of the Osmond brothers, but he dropped the “Little” from his name long ago.

The American singer, musical actor and entrepreneur turns 46 on Thursday, a birthday that he will celebrate in Britain, where he is playing slick lawyer Billy Flynn in a touring production of the sexiest of all American musicals, Kander and Ebb’s Chicago.

You may not associate the clean-living Mormon of Long Haired Lover From Liverpool fame with murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery and treachery, but he is having a ball as Billy, as Grand Opera House audiences will discover in his York debut from April 20 to 25.

“It’s a very sexy role, but actually Billy is a well-behaved gentleman. If you go and watch Richard Gere’s portrayal of him in the movie, he doesn’t drink or smoke… and I would not take the Lord’s name in vain, so they’ve allowed me to say it my way without taking anything from the role,” says Jimmy, whose Billy will not only be smooth talking but cleaner too.

“The good thing is that Billy still has punch and the reviews have been favourable. You have to be true to yourself and that’s all that matters. I’m just really proud of this opportunity and to be working with such a nice and good cast.”

Jimmy’s faith always will be important to him. “It’s what I believe every day of my life. One of the things I loved about my parents was that they taught me to learn about other people’s religions,” he says. “I think that’s so cool because they taught me to focus on what we have in common, and if we all respected each other’s religions the world would be a better place.”

Significantly, Jimmy concludes his programme biography by saying he has “continued to live under strict discipline guidelines of integrity, wholesome entertainment and hard work. Whether it’s family, business, or civic duties, Jimmy Osmond strives to be the best!”

Expanding on that sentiment, he reflects on today’s celebrity culture: “You can’t change the world and you still need to live in the world, but you don’t need to be part of that celebrity world.

“In Chicago, there’s that thing of striving to be a celebrity to get noticed, but in my case I can only control what I do, so that means I’ve been able to be part of this amazing production and do that as a positive thing for me.

“I love the music, I love the challenge of acting in it and doing an adult role in a real situation, and I love the audience reaction to a different flavour of performing that I’ve not been involved in. I never thought I’d have the chance to play such a cool part as this.”

Having made his pantomime debut as Buttons in Cinderella at Northampton last year and his West End bow in Grease in January, Jimmy is enjoying working on the British stage in the latest chapter of a profession career in music that began at three.

“Hopefully further opportunities will come along as I’m still young enough to have those opportunities, though if it had to stop now, I feel so blessed as the biggest thing in my life is my kids,” he says.

Married to Michelle Larson since 1992, he has four children, Sophia, Zachary, Wyatt, and Bella. Would he wish for them to follow in his musical footsteps?

“I hope not. The world we live in today is so different. When The Osmonds started, we were in a bubble, where we looked after each other,” Jimmy says.

“I’m all for Simon Cowell’s talent shows but boy, I hope they have family around them to support them as you have to have that grounding because it’s tough at the top.

“So I’d just like to see my kids happy and content in what they do and I’ll support them in whatever that is.”

Jimmy tasted international success from the age of five when he scored the first gold record in the Osmond family with My Little Darling, recorded in Japanese, and he had the biggest-selling single in the family with Long Haired Lover From Liverpool, a British number one in the winter of 1972 at the age of only nine.

He has since been involved in merchandising, advertising, running production companies and fund raising for the Children’s Miracle Network in the USA and UK. In 1999, he was honoured by the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans.

All the while, he has retained a performing career, starring in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in upstate New York, making his solo debut in a British musical in 2004 in Boogie Nights in Blackpool, and returning there the next year with brothers Jay and Wayne in Jimmy Osmond’s American Jukebox Show.

He has gone on to appear in I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity Family Fortunes, Everybody Dance Now and Celebrity Come Dine With Me.

He has sustained success since childhood without any of the troubles that have blighted Michael Jackson.

“The public perception of Michael is not always what is the truth,” says Jimmy, coming to the defence of the oft-maligned Jackson.

“I worked with him for two years, raising finance for his tour of the Pacific Rim, and I got to know him in a personable way and he’s a wonderful man and he’s so misunderstood. But what is reality anyway?

“That level of success does change the way you think and the things you like. He can’t go out anywhere. Imagine that. Lazy journalism makes it impossible for him because ever story is taken as gospel truth.”

Does Jimmy see similarities between the Jacksons and the Osmonds, or contrasts? “The point is that the Jacksons are a lot cooler family than they’re given credit for, and in my family we’ve not escaped troubles, but we still want to be in each other’s lives.”

Spoken like the President of Osmond Entertainment, which he is.

Jimmy Osmond stars in Chicago at Grand Opera House, York, April 20 to 25. Performances at 7.30pm, Monday to Thursday; 5pm and 8.30pm, Saturday; 2.30pm, Wednesday, Saturday. Tickets: £12 to £35 on 0844 847 2322.