
Paul O'Grady
Actor · 1955 – 2023 · Tranmere, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
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.
Series22
TV7.2ComedyTalk ShowEach week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on around the world that week. The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out.
The Graham Norton Show
2007 · 290 votes
TV7.6Action & AdventureDramaThe Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.
Doctor Who
2005 · 3.5K votes
TV6.6RealityThe biggest stars, the most iconic performances, the most outrageous outfits – it’s Britain’s number one pop show.
Top of the Pops
1964 · 44 votes
TV6.8CrimeDramaThe daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.
The Bill
1984 · 47 votes
TVTalk ShowMichael Parkinson returns for a second run of his iconic talk show.
Parkinson
1998
TV5.3Talk ShowAn Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.
An Audience with...
1978 · 3 votes
TV5.1ComedyTalk ShowThe Paul O'Grady Show is a British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4, where the show was produced by Olga TV. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, and occasionally viewer competitions.
The Paul O'Grady Show
2004 · 12 votes
TV6.1ComedyFamilyA gameshow hosted by Ant and Dec filled with stunts, sketches, and special guest appearances.
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
2002 · 41 votes
TV6.0Celebrity Mastermind is a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. The show is a spin-off of the long-running quiz show Mastermind, with the exception that all the contestants are celebrities. As with the main show, John Humphrys is the host and question-master. Magnus Magnusson was quizmaster on the 2003/04 episodes featuring Jonathan Meades as winner.
Celebrity Mastermind
2003 · 2 votes
TV7.1ComedyTFI Friday was an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of guest presenters. It was broadcast on Fridays at 6pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. The title officially stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", but was widely understood to mean "Thank Fuck It's Friday" and was a reference to the popular phrase "Thank God it's Friday". The show's theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase, in keeping with Evans's frequent use of 1960s television themes in his work.
TFI Friday
1996 · 10 votes
TV6.5ComedyThe likes of Antoine de Caunes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Davina McCall, and Lolo Ferrari are your guides to the weird and wonderful in Europe and beyond. How else would you learn about pubic hairdressers, the Penis Olympics, or the latest Japanese sex toys?
Eurotrash
1993 · 11 votes
TV6.0DramaComedyPlayhouse Presents is a series of self-contained TV plays, made by British broadcaster Sky Arts. The series started airing on 12 April 2012, on Sky Arts 1. Each episode is written by a different writer with a different cast.
Playhouse Presents
2012 · 1 votes
TV6.1ComedyTalk ShowJonathan Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band.
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
2001 · 28 votes
TV5.9Talk ShowCelebrities open up to Kate Garraway in intimate and moving interviews.
Kate Garraway's Life Stories
2009 · 9 votes
TV5.2ComedyFamilyBlankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.
Blankety Blank
1979 · 8 votes
TV6.3ComedyThe big-collared comic gives his own spin on TV clips from recent programmes, plus contributions from a set of regular characters
Harry Hill's TV Burp
2002 · 26 votes
TV7.5ComedyThe New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time.
The New Statesman
1987 · 54 votes
TVDocumentaryA British TV documentary series for ITV. Each hour long program sees well-known celebrities travel to various parts of the world to explore more about a person who has inspired them.
Perspectives
2011
TV7.1NewsThe Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former Boomtown Rats singer and Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof. The programme was distinctive for broadcasting live from former lockkeepers' cottages commonly referred to as "The Big Breakfast House", or more simply, "The House", located on Fish Island, in Bow in east London. The show was a mix of news, weather, interviews, audience phone-ins and general features, with a light tone which was in competition with the more serious GMTV and even more serious BBC breakfast programmes.
The Big Breakfast
1992 · 7 votes
TV7.0DramaJean White is an antiques dealer who runs a successful business with her husband, Rory. But when he suddenly dies and leaves her nearly penniless, Jean relocates to their one remaining asset - a cottage in French antiques hub Saint Victoire - and begins investigating Rory's mysterious death.
The Madame Blanc Mysteries
2021 · 29 votes
TV4.1NewsTalk ShowThe latest news, sport, and weather from the UK in this daily breakfast show.
Good Morning Britain
2014 · 9 votes
TV6.7RealityComedyCelebrities perform famous dance routines in front of a panel of judges to raise money for the Comic Relief appeal, with viewers voting for their favourites.
Let's Dance for Comic Relief
2009 · 3 votes
Movies15
Movie7.9DramaA small-time Belfast thief, Gerry Conlon, is wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London, along with his father and friends, and spends 15 years in prison fighting to prove his innocence.
In the Name of the Father
1993 · 2.1K votes
MovieDocumentaryComedyComedy legend Stanley Baxter returns from retirement and returns to the Christmas schedules with a trawl through the very best of his classic sketches and routines, his memories of making the shows, plus some brand new material, including his contemporary take on the Queen's Christmas Message to the Commonwealth.
Movie6.5DocumentaryTribute to entertainer Cilla Black.
Our Cilla
2015 · 2 votes
Movie1.0DocumentaryAfter 50 years in the business, Mr. David Raven still performs as 'Maisie Trollette', Britain's Oldest Drag Artiste. But as his 85th birthday approaches, we see the challenges this brings, and when he meets fellow Drag Queen, Darcelle XV from America, Guinness World Record Holder at 87, professional rivalries flare between our feisty Pantomime Dame and the regal Pageant Queen.
Maisie
2022 · 2 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryComedyIntimate documentary exploring how Paul O'Grady's creation, Lily Savage, took mainstream TV by storm. Unravel the real story of Lily with insights from Paul's daughter and famous pals.
The Life and Death of Lily Savage
2024 · 1 votes
Movie8.3DocumentaryA razor-witted entertainer who found fame as two people - first his drag queen alter ego, Lily Savage, and then as himself. This documentary film charts the unique career of a working class Merseysider whose life away from the spotlight has often been far more dramatic than the consistently successful career he has enjoyed on stage and screen.
The Paul O'Grady Story
2017 · 3 votes
Movie10.0ComedyEnjoy the outrageous and flamboyant First Lady of British Comedy, Lily Savage, as she performs her incredibly hysterical live show before a star-studded audience.
An Evening with Lily Savage
1996 · 1 votes
MovieDoumentary telling the story of Cilla Black, who rose from working-class roots in Liverpool to become one of the nation's most successful and best-loved singers, presenters and all-round entertainers.
MovieDocumentaryThe end of an era as the studios where ITV filmed its many shows for 45 years closes its doors for the last time.
- Movie6.5ComedyTV Movie
Shot live at the one off Comic Aid benefit gig at London’s Carling Apollo – which sold out in just three and a half minutes of tickets being put on sale – the DVD features the entire uncut show for all those unfortunate enough to have missed out on tickets. The 3 hour show sees Jonathan Ross, Jack Dee, Graham Norton, Julian Clary, and Lily Savage host a stellar comic line-up that includes; Lee Evans, Dawn French, Jimmy Carr, Ardal O’Hanlon, Johnny Vegas, Bill Bailey, Bo’ Selecta! star The Bear, Jo Brand, Jon Culshaw, Omid Djalili, Otis Lee Crenshaw, Eddie Izzard, The League Of Gentlemen with Miranda Richardson, Alistair McGowan, Dylan Moran, Dave Spikey, Simon Pegg & Jessica Stevenson. Psychological illusionist Derren Brown and international percussion sensation Stomp also present their own unique blend of stage entertainment.
Comic Aid
2005 · 2 votes
Movie8.0From her Lambeth council flat to top billing on television and the West End stage comes the Scouse bombshell who's shaken British comedy to it's foundations; Lily Savage is live, loud and very, very funny.
Lily Savage: Live And Outrageous
1995 · 1 votes
Movie9.0ComedyMulti award-winning TV personality Paul O'Grady stars as Lily Savage, the Scouse bombshell who catapulted him to superstardom. From her Lambeth Council flat to top billing on television and on the West End stage, this stand-up special spans Lily's career from her 1959 Miss Pears triumph to numerous shop-lifting convictions and finally her international sex-kitten status.
Lily Savage Live: Paying the Rent
1993 · 1 votes
Movie8.0ComedyThis made-for-TV film, was Lily Savage's first foray into the world of video. Although the working-class, Birkenhead born tart-with-a-heart had already appeared on television briefly (on Jonathan Ross' chat show, and the news footage of the 'Poll Tax Riots', if we can believe her!), Lily, alas Paul O'Grady in drag, hadn't yet hit the mainstream of things, and was still largely confined to the clubs, so this venue was one of their first big engagements.
Lily Savage Live from the Hackney Empire
1991 · 1 votes
- Movie10.0Comedy
Along the kilometre stretch of Kilburn High road in London, there are twenty-eight pubs: that's one every thirty-six metres. Populated predominantly by the Irish, this area has come to be known as County Kilburn. Here we witness the loves, lives and laughs of a disparate group of dreamers, losers and ever-hopefuls.
County Kilburn
2000 · 1 votes
Movie3.3AnimationAnimated short set in the dressing room of several drag artists.
Fairest of Them All
1994 · 3 votes