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  Born
on May 25th 1959 in Surbiton, he was raised in nearby
Teddington, South West London with his two older sisters.
A strong Catholic education by Benedictine monks made him
a very religious youngster. He was an altar
boy and a choir boy and used to enjoy all things to do
with his church until he became aware of his
homosexuality. Church then became 'awkward' for him
and he would then only attend with his mother, just to
please her.
When Julian was
thirteen his tall, glamorous, blonde oldest sister,
Frances, started out on a career as a Tiller Girl.
He was fascinated with her work, her flamboyant costumes,
and the way she used make-up, this probably accounting for
his own campness in later years, although he had always
felt an affinity with the effeminate. Once,
when he was five, and to his father's dismay, he had
borrowed a doll's dress and put it on his toy tiger.
After studying
drama at Goldsmith's College for three years and gaining a
degree in Drama and English, he left in 1983. A
variety of jobs, including being a railway guard and doing
singing telegrams, followed. It was around
this time that Julian acquired Fanny the wonderdog.
At nineteen he had a girlfriend for a short time, but she
left him and he started a relationship with a barman at
the Old Vic.
Dragged up in a
kaftan, with beads and a pink wig, he started on the
London comedy circuit as "Gillian Pie-Face". It was
not a success with him being constantly heckled and often
booed off stage. Losing the drag and dressing in PVC
and Rubber he re-invented himself as "The Joan Collins'
Fan Club". Julian was happily surviving with this
act, doing the rounds with just himself, his dog, and his
suitcase, when he was 'discovered' one night by some
producers in the audience. His debut television
appearance was with Channel 4 in "Cabaret at the Jongleurs"
in 1988 where he was billed as "The Joan Collins' Fan
Club" with Fanny the Wonderdog.
A steady stream
of work followed and he became known as Julian Clary
having been persuaded to drop the reference to Joan
Collins. In 1993 he compéred the British Comedy
Awards which was being broadcast live. A sexual joke
that he made about the then Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Norman Lamont, although greeted with enthusiastic laughter
and applause by the celebrity audience attending,
resulted in gross condemnation of him by the press the
following day, some even calling for him to be banned from
television even though only twelve viewers had been
offended enough to actually complain out of a viewing
audience of more than thirteen million. Julian
escaped to tour Australia, not returning until 1995.
Julian soon
became more popular than ever with the British public.
Acting roles, comedy series, show hosting, advertisements,
guest appearances, and pantomime parts, in all far too
many to mention here have made him a household name.
Could anyone today see or hear him and not know who he
was? The modest, vulnerable, but flamboyant, gay,
camp, loveable, yet often outrageous - Julian Clary.
Visit:
The
Julian Clary Website
Visit:
Knitting Circle Julian Clary
Visit:
Interview with Julian Clary
Click below to
buy the book online!
Performance:
Cabaret at Jongleurs, 1988, television appearance as the
Joan Collins' Fan Club.
Trick or Treat, 1989, television show.
Sticky Moments with Julian Clary, 1989, host on a
television quiz show series.
Sticky Moments on Tour with Julian Clary, 1990, host on a
television quiz show series.
Carry on Columbus, 1992, film acting role as the prison
governor Don Juan Diego.
Terry and Julian, 1992, as himself in a television comedy
series.
The Splendids, 1995, acting role in a play by Jean Genet,
directed by Neil Bartlett.
All Rise for Julian Clary, 1996, as himself in a
television comedy series.
Brazen Hussies, 1996, television acting role as the Man in
the Moon.
Hospital!, 1997, television acting role.
In the Dark, 1997, acting role in a sitcom in the USA
(never broadcast).
Live from the Lighthouse, 1998, television show host.
Jack and the Beanstalk, 1998, television acting role as
Time and the first henchman.
Prickly Heat, 1998, television series host.
Mr and Mrs, 1999, compére on a television quiz show (taken
off after two editions).
It's Only TV but I Like It, 1999, participant in a
celebrity television game show.
Prickly Heat, 2000, co-host of a television game show on
Sky Television.
Cinderella, 2000/2001, pantomime role as Dandini at the
Theatre Royal, Brighton.
Cinderella, 2001/2002, pantomime role as Dandini at the
Richmond Theatre.
Dick Whittington, 2001 as the purrfect cat in ITV's Xmas
Pantomime Spectacular.
This list is not
a complete history of performance.
There is so much more!
Since writing
the above Julian has appeared on numerous radio and
television shows, perhaps the most noticeable being
Strictly Come Dancing, and Come And Have A Go
(accompanying the National Lottery) for which before the
launch he is credited with saying: "I can't wait to get
my hands on the general public once again - I do hope
they'll be clean..."
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