Born
Paul O'Grady, on the 14th June 1955 in Birkenhead, Nr
Liverpool, Lancashire, UK, (All sing: "Fairy across the
Mersey..." - Sorry, we just had to!) he was brought up in an
Irish Catholic household in Tranmere and attended St.
Anselm's College, Manor Hill. Even as a boy he loved
dressing up, and never followed normal boys' pastimes like
playing football. His one concession to sport was his keen
interest in wrestling which in those days was compulsive
television viewing every Saturday afternoon. Who could ever
forget those great names from that era like Mick McManus and
Giant Haystacks?
Although Paul had no misconceptions about his sexuality, he
apparently always knew that he was gay, when he was nineteen
he had a daughter, Sharyn, by Diane Jansen, who was ten
years his senior. Three years later, in a marriage of
convenience, Paul married a Portuguese lesbian called Teresa
Fernandes. They are now divorced.
In his early days, Paul had many jobs, including working as
a civil servant, house cleaning (for, it's said, Cleo Laine!),
wood chopping, even assisting in a children's home in
Kirkby. In 1977 he packed his bags and went abroad to work
as a waiter in a Bar in Manila; a bar which also turned out
to be a brothel. Paul has also visited Playa del Ingles,
spending much of his time at the world famous drag venue, La
Belle. It was in these environments that the seeds of Lily
Savage were likely planted in Paul's mind, although it would
be many years before Lily would achieve notoriety.
Paul returned to England in the early eighties. Staying in
London, working as a social worker, he supplemented his
income by doing evening bar work at the Royal Vauxhall
Tavern, a well known gay pub and a golden stepping stone for
many a drag act. It was not long before, instead of serving
drinks, he was performing a mime act on stage, and taking on
the role of compere for the amateur drag nights. To prove he
could do far better than many, if not most, of the acts that
he introduced, Paul decided to release Lily Savage on the
audience there for the first time in 1985. They loved Lily.
Savage was Paul's mother's maiden name; strong, and as a
perfect contradiction to the much weaker sounding Lily, it
made the name memorable. Lily's character is alleged to be
loosely based on someone that Paul had seen in a Sheffield
market, although many of her qualities are said to come from
watching friends and family members; and the more risqué
ones, presumably, from his time in Manila and perhaps
influenced somewhat by Alan Ward when appearing at the
famous La Belle.
Lily
performed in many pubs and clubs before making it into the
theatre. As with many other performers, the Edinburgh
Festivals were a major career boost. Finally, the
loud-mouthed, platinum beehive blonde with dubious morals
became a household name, resulting in appearances at the
London Palladium and Royal Albert Hall.
Using the name, Paul Savage, his acting career began as an
extra on 'Coronation Street' and in the film 'In The Name Of
The Father'. His TV success came from appearances on 'Live
From The Lilydrome' in 1995, and Channel Four's 'Big
Breakfast'. When a sickly four-week-old puppy was found
abandoned on the motorway one day and handed in to 'The Big
Breakfast' studio, Paul adopted him, calling him, Buster,
and nursed him back to health. The pair have been
inseparable ever since. Paul, who has a house near Tower
Bridge, now prefers to live in the tranquillity of rural
Kent, where he is surrounded by his many and much loved
animals, including Buster.
'Blankety Blank', originally a popular BBC quiz show first
presented by Terry Wogan, then later presented by the
loveable (alas, now departed) Les Dawson, was successfully
revived with Lily Savage as the host, and recently
transferred from the BBC to ITV. Other television work
includes the popular series, 'The Lily Savage Show'. It was
following the huge success with the stage show of that name
on Blackpool's North Pier with guest star pop singer Sonia,
who he became close friends with after their many nights out
on the town, that he talked her into becoming Lily's wayward
daughter Bunty in the television series. On stage, there
were major national tours of the musicals, 'Prisoner Cell
Block H', and 'Annie', and two seasons of the Pantomime,
'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs'.
More
recently, even though Lily has become embedded as a British
Institution (we've heard that news of the heart attack was
spoken of in government circles), Paul has often dropped the
drag and appeared as himself on various shows. Paul
O'Grady's Orient (2000) and America (2001), to name two,
were hilariously enlightening and our star was as camp as
ever, albeit unintentionally for some of the time. And who
could forget Richard and Judy's farewell (after 13 years) to
This Morning television in July 2001 when Paul, as himself
again, stole the show with all his funny stories and witty
one-liners? Then earlier this year we enjoyed 'Screen Tests
of the Stars 2002' where the unfrocked Paul delighted us by
embarrassing a multitude of stars when he showed us their
screen tests in two fifty minute shows.
Alarmingly, Paul O'Grady suffered a heart attack in April
2002, but fortunately he has apparently made a speedy
recovery. He started writing his autobiography just two
weeks after his heart attack and says he has been given some
tips from author Joan Collins. Jackie Collins is reputed to
have given him another piece of excellent advice: 'Darling,
just lie about anything and everything.' The book is
expected to focus on Paul's long battle with depression,
mostly due to overwork it is thought. As early as May, he
was out making public appearances again, and had the
audience howling with laughter when he gave an impromptu
stand-up routine at the British Soap Awards. The BBC,
confident of his recovery, have lined Paul up to play a
bingo caller in their six part series, 'Eyes Down', due to
be recorded in the autumn. (Will they dare: Six and
Nine...?!) We understand that there is also some hope that
Lily, who was taken ill with the heart trouble the very day
before the fabulous opening of Funny Girls new mega-venue in
Blackpool and couldn't be with us, may be paying the resort
a visit or two later this year. - If you're still on water,
gal, all the drinks are on us!
Paul has had numerous awards given to him throughout his
career, including several 'Entertainer of the Year' awards
by Capital Gay; a Perrier Award nomination at the Edinburgh
Festival 1991; 'Best Comedian/Comedienne' in November 1997
by the readers of Smash Hits; a Variety Club
award
for 'Showbiz Personality 1997'; TV Quick award for 'Funniest
Person On TV'; 'Best Gameshow 1998' for 'Blankety Blank';
'Personality Of The Year 1998' at the Scouseology awards in
Liverpool; and two National Television Awards, voted for by
the public. - If Lily was to take that lot up
the Three Balls in the High Street, she'd not have to work
the town hall steps for a month! There will be many more
accolades to come, we're sure! - Just look after yourself,
gal!
2005
Update: Alas, Lily is no more... Paul has proclaimed to the
nation in a Parkinson interview (as Lily) that he's donned
the wig for the last time (we don't believe a word of it!)
and that he now prefers his "more straight" role as
presenter and host of the tea-time Paul O'Grady Show. As
this is written the brilliant show is in its second very
successful season. Paul has achieved something that few
others could claim: he's been to the very top as both a man
and a woman!
2010 Update: The
Paul O'Grady Show ran between the 11th October 2004 and the
23rd December 2005 on ITV, and then in 2006 he took it to
Channel 4 where as The New Paul O'Grady Show between 27th
March 2006 and the 18th December 2009 he completed a
further seven series (making eleven in all), finishing
spectacularly with his final ever show. His long-term lover
and business partner for 20 years, Brendan Murphy, died of
cancer on 9 June 2005, five days before Paul's fiftieth
birthday. There was a tribute to him after the first
show
of series three. Paul O'Grady collected an MBE from the
Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace in 2008. The stray shih
tzu-bichon frise-cross that Paul found as a pup on a
motorway and rescued, had to be put down on in November
2009, suffering from cancer. Paul was devastated, having to
walk off set during a tribute to the animal. The dog had
featured on many TV shows with O'Grady, appearing first on
The Big Breakfast Show, and had been honoured with the title
of 'best dog on TV' by the TV Times. It is rumoured that
Paul is currently in a relationship with the young and
handsome Brazilian ballet dancer: Andre Portasio.
Actor - filmography.
(2000s) (1990s)
"Screen Tests of the Stars" (2002) (TV 2 x 50mins) Paul
O'Grady - Host Night of a Thousand Faces (2001) (TV)
(archive footage) .... Various
Royal Variety Performance 2001, The (2001) (TV) ....
Performer
"America" (2001) TV Series (as Paul O'Grady) .... Himself
... aka "Paul O'Grady's America" (2001) (USA: complete
title)
"Lily Live!" (2000) TV Series .... Herself
County Kilburn (2000) (as Paul O'Grady)
"Orient" (2000) TV Series (as Paul O'Grady) .... Himself
... aka "Paul O'Grady's Orient" (2000) (USA: complete title)
"Lily Savage Show, The" (1998) TV Series .... Herself
Live Show, The (1998) (V) .... Herself
"Blankety Blank" (1977) TV Series .... Presenter (1998-)
... aka "Lily Savage's Blankety Blank" (1999) (UK: new
title)
Closed for Business (1997) .... Woman in Bar
Audience with Lily Savage, An (1996) (V)
Lily Savage Live at the Garrick Theatre (1995) (V) ....
Herself
... aka Lily Savage: Live and Outrageous From the Garrick
Theatre (1995) (V) (UK: video box title)
"Big Breakfast, The" (1992) TV Series .... 'On the Bed'
Presenter (1995-1996)
Lily Savage Live: Paying the Rent (1993) (V) ....
Herself/Kitty Kelly
In the Name of the Father (1993) (as Paul Savage) ....
Prisoner
Chimera (1991) (TV) (as Paul Savage) .... Donaldson
... aka Monkey Boy (1991) (TV)
Lily Savage Live From the Hackney Empire (1991) (V) ....
Herself/Erica Von Savage
... aka Lily Savage Live at the Hackney Empire (1991) (V)
(UK: video box title)
Notable TV guest appearances.
"British Soap Awards" (2002) as Paul O'Grady
"This Morning with Richard and Judy" (2001)(their final
show) as Paul O'Grady
"Harry Enfield and Chums" (1994) playing "Herself" in
episode: "Comic Relief" (episode # 2.8) 3/12/1999
"End of the Year Show, The" (1995) playing "Herself"(episode
# 1) 12/31/1995
"Brookside" (1982) playing "Herself" in episode: "Grants
Restaurant Opening" 1994
"New Statesman, The" (1987) playing "Marlene Dietrich"(as
Paul Savage) in episode: "Hail and Farewell" (episode # 4.4)
12/13/1992
"Bill, The" (1983) playing "Roxanne" in episode:
"Information Received" (episode # 1990.31) 4/17/1990
"Bill, The" (1983) playing "Roxanne" in episode: "No
Strings" (episode # 1989.28) 4/6/1989
"Bill, The" (1983) playing "Roxanne" in episode: "Personal
Imports"
The Trouper:
Paul O'Grady, saying he'd given up smoking and drinking, joked: "Lambert and Butler have had to lay off 200
staff."
He claimed he had changed from a "chain smoking, cider
guzzling cynic to a "water-drinking, tofu-eating" one.
"All this and I'm not on drugs," he said at the British Soap
Awards in 2002. "It's the first time I've ever done this job without
a spliff. The floor's not moving."
According to some, parts of Paul's speech are yet to be
shown on television, and are possibly only likely to ever be
seen on some future late night 'out takes' programme.
