Paul O'Grady's Factfile

Personal Life
Paul James O'Grady was born in Birkenhead on June 14, 1955. The youngest of three, his Irish working-class family lived near the docks in Tranmere. There was always an understanding in his family that he was gay. “It was no big deal. I never stood up in the front room and said, ‘I have something to tell you!’ but I wasn’t hiding anything.’

O'Grady attended a Christian Brothers school ("They were wicked, wicked!") but despite doing well in his exams, he did not go to university. "Nobody in my family had ever gone," he says. "They thought I should get a job with a good pension. So I went to work for the Civil Service. I'd wanted to work for the Ministry of Defence, because I had some far-fetched idea that it had something to do with the Avengers, but I ended up in Social Security."

After the DSS, there came a succession of short-term jobs: a disastrous spell as a hotel skivvy; cleaning jobs; administration work in an abattoir; and stint as a clerk in a magistrate's court. While there, he had an affair with a colleague, a woman 10 years older than him; she became pregnant. Paul was reunited with his daughter, Sharyn, later in her life and they are now extremely close.


Did You Know?

Lily Savage was "born" 10 years ago at the Vauxhall Tavern, a gay pub which entertained its clientele with drag acts. Paul was working behind the bar and persuaded the pub manager that he should compere the drag shows. He went down a storm as Lily Savage, who was quite unlike any other drag act at the time. “The other acts were very Shirley Bassey in sequined frocks and feathers, so I went the other way with half a yard of cheap leopard-skin and a tassel, and a ratty old bag. I was going on about fiddling the electricity meter and signing on late. That's how the style came, the whole look. Sort of urban slapper, really.”

Paul is about star in a new series called "Eyes Down" in which is plays a bingo caller called Ray. "Until now I've always held out against doing a sitcom, because I don't really rate them... I get sent a lot of scripts and Eyes Down was just one of many, but when I read it I just roared with laughter. I thought this could have been written especially for me."

Last year Paul took a trip to New York with best friend Cilla Black. "It was great," he enthuses. "Cilla and I took the place by storm and we had a really super time. We even met Madonna and she knew who we were. After meeting her I was like, 'Cilla, she knew who we were. How good is that'?"


Cool Credentials

Paul has won myriad awards including:

‘Entertainer of the Year’ – Capital Gay
Nomination for Perrier Award at Edinburgh Festival 1981
Best Comedian/Comedienne – Smash Hits 1997
Showbiz Personality of the Year – Variety Club 1997
Funniest Person On TV – TV Quick
Best Gameshow – TV Quick 1998
Personality of the Year – Scouseology Awards in Liverpool
2 National Television Awards