Career in drag Paul O'Grady

1 career in drag

1.1 lily savage , drag circuit: 1978–84
1.2 residency in vauxhall: 1984–92
1.3 mainstream success: 1992–98

career in drag
lily savage , drag circuit: 1978–84



— paul o grady, 2008.

while working camden social services, o grady made first attempt @ putting drag act, creating character of lily savage; later related wanted there larger life, creature more cartoon human. wasn t sure yet. debut on afternoon of 7 october 1978 @ black cap gay pub in camden, act involved miming words barbra streisand s nobody makes pass @ me show pins , needles. following holiday poland, visited ex-boyfriend in manila in philippines; found manila culture shock , briefly worked barman , waiter @ brothel known gussie s bar.

returning london, o grady moved purley , streatham drag act, glamazons. 1 of them, nicknamed hush , founded two-man drag mime act, playgirls, although found little work in london. agreeing tour of north of england, moved slaithwaite, yorkshire, accepting month s work @ club in copenhagen, denmark. living north, diversified act, o grady performing striptease while wearing fat suit named biddy , learning fire eating hotel manager in bradford. fed poor living conditions, hush returned london, leading o grady continue drag performance solo act under name of paul monroe , reference marilyn monroe. finding himself under financial strain, o grady moved in mother in birkenhead, there becoming reacquainted diane , daughter. amid mass unemployment, o grady briefly lived off dole before resurrecting playgirls friend vera; performing in liverpool, caught in 1981 toxteth riots, began touring other parts of northern england until deciding quit , return london.

returning work support worker camden council social services, o grady began caring old woman lived several doors down serial killer dennis nilsen. regularly moving flats, vauxhall brixton , battersea, reunited hush, , began performing playgirls again, devising act based upon cult film ever happened baby jane?. @ end of year, appeared ugly sister in drag pantomime of cinderella. moving victoria mansions flats in vauxhall, in march 1983 joined equity union, allowing him take role in theatrical adaptation of if d asked lion tamer @ donmar warehouse. playgirls gained bookings appear across london, , in amsterdam , copenhagen; o grady , hush joined drag artist david dale form act known lsd , stood lily, sandra , doris , devising act parodied andy pandy, gained bookings across london , in edinburgh.

residency in vauxhall: 1984–92

in 1984, o grady began work barman @ elephant , castle, vauxhall gay pub. lily, became compere of ladies night every tuesday, amateur drag acts perform. compere, tried out comedy routines, becoming known insulting both acts , audience, describing 1 of best times of life. becoming increasingly popular, show began attracting crowds , interviewed artist patrick procktor. after 6 months, o grady transferred act nearby royal vauxhall tavern (rvt) gay pub, manager offered him £50 show on £15 elephant , castle paid; re-opened show on thursday nights stars of future . in february 1985 obtained own council flat in vauxhall s victoria mansions, moving in pet cats , friend vera. during mid-1980s, o grady met brendan murphy, known murph or murphy friends, manager of gay sauna near oval, kennington, , entered long-term relationship. murphy subsequently become o grady s manager.

eventually appearing @ rvt 3 times week, on sundays o grady began performing @ union tavern in camberwell , goldsmith s tavern in new cross, preceded vic reeves three-hour show vic reeves big night out. on number of occasions performed @ madame jojo s club in soho. quitting council work, focused full-time on career lily, taking act across united kingdom , abroad countries israel , finland. befriending american drag queen divine , manager bernard jay, jay booked o grady appear in fort lauderdale, florida. divine had done, o grady recorded own hi-nrg song, tough @ top , produced dj ian levine. in 1988, performed madame in scythe of reason, , appeared @ glasgow mayfest, developed lifelong friendship actor ian mckellen. 1989 1992, o grady performed annually lily @ edinburgh fringe festival, gaining increasing recognition act. result, nominated 1991 perrier award alongside jack dee, eddie izzard, , frank skinner, although latter won award. o grady followed show titled lily savage live hackney empire, proved sell-out , first time performance recorded.

o grady used act publicly speak out against treatment of britain s lgbt community mainstream media, government , police, particularly during hiv/aids crisis hit community during decade. on number of occasions, police raided pubs working at; quoted in capital gay newspaper calling on lgbt people riot against mistreatment. in april 1988 took part in 30,000 strong march against section 28, policy introduced conservative government of margaret thatcher gay community denounced homophobic. regularly doing charity fundraisers hiv/aids research, many of friends died result of aids-related complications. in 2015 o’grady said i’ve lost know , , talked having pretend of families dying of cancer nursed them. people age never on horrors. performed in play disease @ king s head theatre in islington; there befriended co-star amanda mealing.

o grady obtained breakthrough television when played character of transvestite prostitute informant, roxanne (while using stage name paul savage ), in 3 episodes of itv s police drama bill between 1988 , 1990. before filming on first episode, o grady s mother died , proceeded return house landlord. in 1990 appeared in itv miniseries chimera tony donaldson, social worker skilled in signing deaf; during filming became friends co-star liza tarbuck. followed performance marlene dietrich in episode of rik mayall s itv comedy new statesman.

mainstream success: 1992–98

after leaving rvt, o grady continued tour lily , released vhs videos of performances. after gaining further public exposure through appearance on popular late-night channel 4 comedy show viva cabaret!, invited appear on episode of bbc quiz show s showbusiness. travelling manchester studio filmed, accidentally left lily costume on train, subsequently appearing on show out of character. moving radio, lily, began making regular appearances on woman s hour , loose ends. moving film, travelled dublin, ireland play role of inmate in 1993 film in name of father; although not in lily character, credited paul savage . in october 1994, invited on episode of bbc television series steve wright people show lily, proved popular , invited later episode. in november, made cameo lily in soap brookside, while invited guest present episode of bbc music show top of pops lily.

employed narrate bbc 2 series life swaps, low ratings not renewed second series, given own late-night channel 4 series, live lilydrome, filmed in working men s club in blackpool. given top billing @ lgb rights charity stonewall s 1994 equality show in albert hall, played role of nancy in london palladium s performance of musical oliver!. reflecting increasing success in mainstream british comedy, in 1994 nominated both top live stand-up comedian , top television comedy newcomer @ british comedy awards. in south london gay scene o grady emerged critical of had taken career, accusing him of being sell out; o grady fiercely denied these accusations, stating ve done ten years on factory floor , feel deserve shot in office.

after paula yates resigned presenter of channel 4 morning television program big breakfast, production company planet 24 employed o grady replace her. commissioned present show, termed lie-in lily, 4 weeks in treated trial run. lily, o grady ignored suggested questions of pr agents, instead asked personal questions of guests, in doing attracting 30% share of morning audience, 2 million viewers; realising popularity, planet 24 renewed contract keep him on presenter. however, o grady found morning starts difficult deal with, particularly had signed appear lily in musical version of prisoner in cell block h @ queen s theatre in london s west end. juggling both rehearsals , big breakfast proved incredibly exhausting o grady. when musical went on tour of uk, o grady accompanied it, taking break big breakfast so.

he took new dog, shih tzu named buster, him on tour; o grady later commented never happier in tv studio or theatre... buster knew theatre doormen, , loved being fussed over. smashing dog. @ time, o grady had been making greater attempts know teenage daughter; both existence , of o grady s wife discovered daily mirror tabloid, treated them headline scandal in autumn 1994. critical of media, o grady condemned them solely referring him drag queen; commented barry humphries never called drag act because s heterosexual male. m called 1 because m gay man. s homophobic , s wrong there nothing remotely sexual do. dress woman financial purposes, nothing else.

in april 1996, o grady filmed performance @ lwt tower evening lily savage, broadcast on itv in november. hit, attracted 11.2 million viewers , earned award best entertainment program @ 1997 national television awards, although publicly criticised being bawdy , in bad taste both daily mail , drag queen danny la rue. itv offered him weekly show air on wednesdays @ 8 pm, although o grady turned down offer, believing pre-watershed slot force him drastically alter act form of light entertainment. murphy established production company, known widlflower. returning theatre, performed lily savage show sixteen-week sell-out run @ north pier theatre in blackpool, , after month break returned town perform lily s christmas cracker @ blackpool opera house. @ juncture, agreed appear lily in series of adverts ford escort, earning him £150,000, , subsequently appear in ad campaigns pretty polly tights , bingo company. o grady had earned substantial sum of money through these performances, enabling him move out of vauxhall council flat , luxury apartment near tower bridge in central london. through contacts made in showbusiness, became friends many a-list celebrities, among them elton john , cher.