64 Facts About Paul O'Grady

1.

Paul James O'Grady MBE was born on 14 June 1955 and is an English comedian, broadcaster, actor, writer and former drag queen.

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2.

Paul O'Grady achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his drag queen persona Lily Savage, very popular in the 1990s.

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3.

Paul O'Grady developed his drag act in 1978, basing the character of Lily Savage upon traits found amongst female relatives.

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4.

Paul O'Grady was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to entertainment.

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5.

Paul O'Grady was born on 14 June 1955 at St Catherine's Hospital in the Tranmere area of Birkenhead, Cheshire.

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6.

Paul O'Grady's name was changed from "Grady" to "O'Grady" in a paperwork mistake when he joined the Royal Air Force, and he kept the new name.

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7.

Paul O'Grady spent his early life at the family's rented home at 23 Holly Grove in Higher Tranmere.

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8.

Fan of the popular television series The Avengers and Batman, Paul O'Grady was enrolled in the Cub Scouts by his mother, but he hated it, leaving after a month.

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9.

Paul O'Grady then joined the Marine Cadet Section of the Sea Cadet Corps, later commenting that he was following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, the cartoon Popeye.

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10.

Paul O'Grady enjoyed the cadets, and at the advice of his captain joined the Boys' Amateur Boxing Club, developing a lifelong love of the sport.

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11.

Paul O'Grady's first job was a paper round that he kept for a week, and through this and other jobs, he saved up to afford Mod clothes, for a time becoming a suedehead.

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12.

Briefly working as an assistant clerk at Liverpool Magistrates' Court, Paul O'Grady subsequently worked as a barman at Yates's Wine Lodge, supplementing the income with the occasional night at the Bear's Paw.

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13.

Diversifying their act, Paul O'Grady learned fire eating and developed a striptease while wearing a fat suit he named "Biddy".

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14.

Amid mass unemployment, Paul O'Grady briefly lived off the dole before resurrecting the Playgirls with his friend Vera; initially performing in Liverpool, where they were caught up in the 1981 Toxteth riots, they began touring other parts of northern England until returning to London.

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15.

In 1984, Paul O'Grady began work as a barman at a Vauxhall gay pub, the Elephant and Castle.

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16.

From 1989 to 1992 Paul O'Grady performed annually as Lily at the Edinburgh Fringe, gaining increasing recognition.

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17.

Paul O'Grady was nominated for the 1991 Perrier Award alongside Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard, and Frank Skinner.

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18.

Paul O'Grady obtained his breakthrough into television when he played the character of a transvestite prostitute informant, Roxanne, in three episodes of ITV's police drama The Bill between 1988 and 1990.

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19.

Paul O'Grady had continued to perform regularly at the RVT, and after the proprietors Pat and Breda McConnor decided to move on, he and Murphy unsuccessfully sought to replace them.

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20.

Paul O'Grady never compered at the RVT again after the McConnors left.

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21.

Paul O'Grady appeared as a female pirate in an episode of BBC children's show Pirates.

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22.

Paul O'Grady found the early morning starts difficult, particularly as he was appearing as Lily in a musical version of Prisoner Cell Block H at the Queen's Theatre in London's West End.

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23.

Paul O'Grady turned down ITV's subsequent offer of a weekly show because it would air before the watershed and thus force him to drastically alter his act into a form of light entertainment.

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24.

Paul O'Grady found the scripted, non-spontaneous nature of the series difficult, and it was not well received.

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25.

Paul O'Grady went on an eight-week tour as Lily, before starring as Mrs Hannigan in a West End performance of the musical Annie.

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26.

Paul O'Grady subsequently accompanied the show's tour of the UK, before appearing in a Birmingham pantomime.

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27.

Tired of appearing as Lily, Paul O'Grady decided to try to make a career for himself out of drag.

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28.

Paul O'Grady appeared as himself in an advert campaign for Double Two shirt-makers, before pitching a six-part travelogue series to ITV, who agreed to part-fund it.

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29.

The project resulted in Paul O'Grady's Orient, for which he travelled throughout East and Southeast Asia.

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30.

Paul O'Grady suffered a bout of clinical depression, but recovered in time to perform alongside Cilla Black and Barbara Windsor in a burlesque rendition of "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" at the 2001 Royal Variety Performance; the televised event attracted 11.

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31.

Paul O'Grady's recovery meant missing the Heritage Foundation Awards ceremony, where he was awarded television personality of the year award.

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32.

Paul O'Grady followed this with a pantomime performance as the Wicked Queen in Snow White at Manchester Opera House.

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33.

In 2003, Paul O'Grady appeared in Celebrity Driving School, a BBC Comic Relief show in which he learned to drive, alongside Nadia Sawalha and Jade Goody.

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34.

The BBC were planning on reviving The Generation Game; Paul O'Grady presented two pilot episodes in 2003 but left the project, unhappy with the result.

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35.

Paul O'Grady ended 2003 with a pantomime performance at the Bristol Hippodrome.

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36.

Paul O'Grady temporarily stood in for Des O'Connor on ITV's lunchtime chat show Today with Des and Mel, enjoying the feeling of presenting live.

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37.

In producing the show, Paul O'Grady worked with many old friends, including warm-up man Andy Collins.

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38.

Paul O'Grady's audience laughed like drains at his anecdotes and were brought right into the heart of the show.

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39.

In June 2006, Paul O'Grady suffered a second massive heart attack, undergoing an angioplasty; he received around 7000 get-well-soon cards and letters from fans.

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40.

Paul O'Grady subsequently won the Ten Years at the Top award at the TV Quick and TV Choice awards.

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41.

Paul O'Grady voiced his support for student protesters who had occupied and vandalised the Conservative Party headquarters.

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42.

Paul O'Grady Live was picked up for a second series from April to July 2011, and included a special devoted to American pop star Lady Gaga.

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43.

Paul O'Grady stated that ITV had asked him to return for a third series, but that he had refused, claiming that he had had enough of the chat show format, and that he was fed up with the "interference" from the show's producers.

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44.

Paul O'Grady commented that he had wanted to do such a show for years and that he took to it with an "enthusiasm that surprised everyone except me".

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45.

Paul O'Grady adopted a dog from the home; a Jack Russell-Chihuahua cross named Eddy.

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46.

In July 2013, Paul O'Grady narrated the ITV documentary Me and My Guide Dog following the work of Guide Dogs.

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47.

In 2013, Paul O'Grady guest starred as cancer patient Tim Connor in three episodes of Holby City.

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48.

On 31 October 2013, Paul O'Grady recorded a non-broadcast pilot for a BBC One sitcom called Led Astray, starring alongside Cilla Black.

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49.

In 2013, O'Grady presented two-part BBC documentary series Paul O'Grady's Working Britain, which was nominated for a National Television Award in January 2014.

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50.

On 16 October 2013, Paul O'Grady presented The One and Only Cilla Black, a 90-minute ITV special celebrating Cilla Black's 50 years in show business.

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51.

In 2015, Paul O'Grady presented Bob Monkhouse: The Million Joke Man, a three-part factual series for Gold, exploring the life of comedian and presenter Bob Monkhouse.

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52.

In December 2015, Paul O'Grady appeared in Our Cilla, a one-off programme about the life of Cilla Black.

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53.

In 2008 and 2009, Paul O'Grady occasionally sat in for Elaine Paige on her BBC Radio 2 show Elaine Paige on Sunday.

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54.

On 9 August 2022, it was announced that Paul O'Grady would be leaving the network, with his final show broadcast on 14 August.

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55.

Paul O'Grady was a guest on Kate Thornton's Paper Cuts in 2015.

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56.

In September 2017, Paul O'Grady presented a two-part documentary for BBC Radio 2 called The Story of the Light.

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57.

Paul O'Grady was a tricky bastard and I can be tricky too.

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58.

Paul O'Grady's grandson, Abel, was born in December 2006, with a granddaughter being born in December 2009.

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59.

Paul O'Grady dedicated the second volume of his autobiography to Buster, describing him as "The greatest canine star since Lassie".

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60.

In 2013, Paul O'Grady expressed his support for the Labour Party, championing Labour leader Ed Miliband as a better candidate for UK Prime Minister than Conservative incumbent David Cameron.

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61.

Paul O'Grady has reported seeing unexplained lights over his Kent home, considering the possibility that he was being observed by extraterrestrials.

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62.

In 2012, Paul O'Grady became an ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home following his series For the Love of Dogs, which was filmed in the home.

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63.

In 2014, Paul O'Grady co-starred in a Dementia Friends TV advertisement campaign to raise awareness about the disease.

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64.

In September 2016, Paul O'Grady was recognised for his work with animals when he won the award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Animal Welfare' at the RSPCA's Animal Hero Awards.

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