Paul O'Grady
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- June 14, 1955
- Died
- March 28, 2023 (aged 67)
- Birthplace
- Tranmere, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
Biography
Paul James O'Grady, MBE DL (14 June 1955 - 28 March 2023) was an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio disc jockey. He achieved fame using his comedic drag queen character, "Lily Savage", and later became well known for presenting TV programmes as himself, such as The Paul O'Grady Show. Born to a working-class Irish family in Birkenhead, he attended Blessed Edward Campion Secondary Modern School, in Claughton Village, Birkenhead, Cheshire (now Merseyside). O'Grady moved to London in the late-1970s, there working as a peripatetic care officer for Camden Council. It was here in 1978 that he developed his drag act, basing the character of Lily Savage upon traits found amongst female relatives. Touring northern England as part of drag mime duo, the Playgirls, he eventually went solo as a stand-up comedian. Performing as Savage for eight years at a South London gay pub, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT), he gained a popular following among the city's gay community and used his character to speak out for LGBT rights. After being nominated for a 1992 Perrier Award, he attracted mainstream attention and made various television, radio, and theatrical appearances. As Savage, he presented morning chat show The Big Breakfast (1995–96), game show Blankety Blank (1997–2002) and comedy series Lily Live! (2000–01), earning various awards and becoming a well known public figure. Seeking to diversify his career away from Savage, O'Grady starred in BBC sitcom Eyes Down (2003–04) and presented two travel documentaries for ITV. In 2004, he began presenting ITV's daytime chat show The Paul O'Grady Show, which proved a hit with audiences. After the network refused to transfer creative control of the series to O'Grady's production company, Olga TV, in 2006 he defected to rival Channel 4, where the show was rebranded as The New Paul O'Grady Show and ran until 2009. O'Grady subsequently presented a late night ITV show, Paul O'Grady Live (2010–11) as well as Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs (which ran from 2012 until his death in 2023) and Paul O'Grady's Animal Orphans (2014–2016), while presenting BBC Radio 2's Paul O'Grady on the Wireless and publishing a four-volume autobiography. O'Grady received a variety of awards, among them honorary degrees and an MBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to entertainment. He died on 28th March 2023 aged 67.
Known For
Filmography
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
Movie
The Life and Death of Lily Savage
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
Movie
Paul O'Grady's Great Elephant Adventure
TV · as Self · 2 eps
For the Love of Paul O'Grady
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Maisie
Movie · as Self
Our Cilla: The One and Only
Movie · as Self
Paul O'Grady's Saturday Night Line Up
TV · as Self - Presenter · 7 eps
The Madame Blanc Mysteries
TV · as David · 1 ep
The National Television Awards Celebrate 25 Years
Movie · as Self
Paul O'Grady's Great British Escape
TV · as Self - Presenter · 6 eps
The London Studios: Home of the Stars
Movie · as Self
Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs - India
TV · as Self - Host · 4 eps
The Paul O'Grady Story
Movie · as Self - Lily Savage (archive footage)
Paul O'Grady's Favourite Fairy Tales
Movie · as Self - Presenter
Our Cilla
Movie · as Self
Bob Monkhouse: Million Joke Man
TV · 3 eps
Good Morning Britain
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Paul O'Grady's Animal Orphans
TV · as Self · 8 eps
Paul O Grady's Working Britain
TV · 2 eps
For the Love of Dogs
TV · as Self - Host · 94 eps
Playhouse Presents
TV · as Neville · 1 ep
Perspectives
TV · 1 ep
Coronation Street - 50 Years, 50 Moments
TV · 1 ep
Little Crackers
TV · as Various · 1 ep
Let's Dance for Comic Relief
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Kate Garraway's Life Stories
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Death In Venice
TV · 2 eps
Stanley Baxter: Now and Then
Movie · as Self
Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
TV · 6 eps
The Graham Norton Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Dawn French's Boys Who Do Comedy
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Comic Aid
Movie
Doctor Who
TV · as Paul O'Grady · 1 ep
The Paul O'Grady Show
TV · as Self - Host · 764 eps
Parkinson
TV · as Self - Guest, Lily Savage · 1 ep
Eyes Down
TV · as Ray Temple · 15 eps
Celebrity Mastermind
TV · 1 ep
Celebrity Driving School
TV · 5 eps
Harry Hill's TV Burp
TV · as Self - Special Guest · 1 ep
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Outtake TV
TV · 19 eps
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
TV · as Self · 2 eps
County Kilburn
Movie · as Paul O'Grady
Lily Live!
TV · as Lily Savage · 13 eps
The British Soap Awards
TV · as Self - Presenter · 2 eps
Lily Savage: The Live Show
Movie · as Lily Savage
Parkinson
TV · as Lily Savage, Self · 1 ep
The Untransmittable Lily Savage Show
Movie · as Lily Savage
The Lily Savage Show
TV · as Lily Savage · 6 eps
An Evening with Lily Savage
Movie · as Self
TFI Friday
TV · 1 ep
Lily Savage: Live And Outrageous
Movie · as Lily Savage
The Ant & Dec Show
TV · 1 ep
Filth!
Movie · as Lily Savage
Fairest of Them All
Movie · as Lily Savage (voice)
Lily Savage Live: Paying the Rent
Movie · as Lily Savage/Kitty Kelly
In the Name of the Father
Movie · as Prisoner
Viva Cabaret
TV · as Self · 5 eps
Eurotrash
TV · 1 ep
The Big Breakfast
TV · as Lilly Savage (On the Bed Interviewer)
Lily Savage Live from the Hackney Empire
Movie · as Lily Savage
Chimera
TV · as Donaldson · 4 eps
This Morning
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Comic Relief
TV · 1 ep
The New Statesman
TV · as Marlene Dietrich · 1 ep
The Bill
TV · 2 eps
Blankety Blank
TV · as Lily Savage - Presenter · 78 eps
An Audience with...
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Top of the Pops
TV · as Lilly Savage (Host) · 1 ep